


let's fall deep, it's fate

by loretoo



Series: Single dad!AU [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: BFFs DoTae, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Kid Fic, Kid Taeil, M/M, Mentions of past abuse, Mild Smut, Misunderstandings, One Night Stands, Single Dad Taeyong, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-03-24 13:02:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13811742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loretoo/pseuds/loretoo
Summary: After a night full of passion with a beautiful stranger named Jaehyun, Taeyong was sure there had been a deeper connection between the two of them. Apparently, there was not, and Jaehyun made it pretty clear the morning after. Meanwhile, Jaehyun might have had his reasons to be so cold towards Taeyong that day. What reasons? You'll find out.





	1. the jaehyun incident

* * *

Taeyong’s back hit the elevator’s wall hard. A hand on the back of his head prevented him from slamming it against the glass, while another arm around his waist pushed him impossibly closer to the man sucking hickeys into his white neck. There was a prominent bulge pressing against his own and oh god, it made him go delirious. Taeyong moaned out loud, unable to do anything else than throw his head back and _feel_.

The elevator stopped and the couple tumbled through the hallway, giggling and kissing like a couple of teenagers. The taller man fumbled trying to open the door with shaky hands and a clingy Taeyong hugging him from behind, sneaky hands going all over his chest and stomach.

“Where’s the bedroom?” Taeyong asked between gasps once they were finally inside.

Instead of answering, Taeyong felt himself being lifted from under his thighs. Giggling, he wrapped his legs around the other man’s waist, never breaking their kiss. He walked them to the bedroom and dropped Taeyong unceremoniously to the bed, falling on top of him immediately after.

“You are so hot…” he whispered, locking Taeyong’s wrists above his head and sucking marks on his neck. “How are you real?”

 _I’m Jaehyun,_ he had whispered into his ear, in the middle of the dance floor while a hundred other bodies moved to the beat, _remember that name because you’ll be moaning it tonight._

It had been bold, something that Taeyong wouldn’t usually fall for, but this guy… the way he so confidently looked into his eyes, the way he pressed his hard body against his own, the way his hands traveled down his back until they rested on his ass and squeezed hard. It took less than a minute and Taeyong was completely lost into this stranger’s eyes and touch.

And now, he was being pushed into the bed, getting his body praised and kissed like no one had done in years and his mind was filled with nothing else than Jaehyun, Jaehyun, _Jaehyun._ Sooner than later he found himself naked, eager hands touching his member, lubed fingers opening him up slowly, carefully, as if they were lovers of years, as if Jaehyun already knew his body and where to press to make Taeyong lose his mind.

Taeyong offered himself completely, he let himself go like he hadn’t done ever, and when he felt Jaehyun entering him slowly, it was as if everything fell into place. Jaehyun’s mouth found his own and they kissed once again, teeth colliding, breaths mendlin. Gasps and moans and the slap of skin against skin filling the room.

He didn’t want to stop, ever. It just felt too good, too right. Changing positions over and over, the two men explored each other bodies and preferences in that amazing night of passion, and when it was over, when they finally reached their climax and their bodies tensed and then relaxed against each other, Taeyong was so spent and sated, he couldn’t do anything else than close his eyes and sleep.

 

***

 

Jaehyun woke up to an empty bed.

Memories from the previous night came flooding his mind. The beautiful stranger, Taeyong. With his big, round eyes and sweet smile that should be illegal if it came accompanied with a body like that. He blushed, remembering the way Taeyong had moved against him, over him and under him, all the filthy things they had said and done to each other. He blushed even harder remembering the way he almost declared his undying love to a complete stranger right before he came, just because the sex had been so good and mind blowing and _right_ , he couldn’t bare to imagine not having him again.

Either way, Jaehyun didn’t have time to think about it too much because the cooling side of his bed was alarming and if he wasn’t able to at least see Taeyong one more time he would panic. So he hurriedly put on his underwear and walked to the living room.

To his relief, Taeyong was still there and to his absolute delight, he was wearing Jaehyun’s dress shirt from last night that fell to his mid-tight and was too long on his arms. He looked absolutely beautiful and Jaehyun briefly wondered if hugging him from behind and kissing his neck was crossing the line… even though the night before they did way more indecent things.

“Let me talk to him.” Taeyong suddenly said.

Jaehyun realized he was on the phone, so he decided to stay there without interrupting. When Taeyong spoke again, his voice was softer and sweeter.

“Hi baby. How are you? Yes, my love. I miss you too, I’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?"

Jaehyun felt his stomach drop low and his blood running cold.

“Oh, really? That’s great!” he laughed. “Aw, baby… I love you so much.”

Jaehyun couldn’t listen anymore. He went into his room, careful of not being heard and he sat on the bed, sulking. He had no right to be angry or jealous or even remotely upset. This was a one night stand, Taeyong was a stranger and he was the one that approached first and flirted so shamelessly. Still, the previous night had been so spectacular and he really had felt a connection between the two. Especially when Taeyong looked into his eyes, moaning softly against his mouth, when he kissed him softly and with so much care...

At the end none of that mattered. Taeyong was a cheater, he had used him to cheat on someone, shamelessly calling them the morning after from his own living room, saying sweet words in that sickeningly sweet voice. It was gross and if there was something Jaehyun despised in life, were _cheaters_.

“Oh, you’re awake.” he heard. Taeyong was standing at his bedroom’s door, so ridiculously sexy with his messy bedhead and Jaehyun’s shirt and his milky white thighs marked with love bites from last night… was he going back to his lover like that? What kind of sick person did that?

“And you’re wearing my shirt.” Jaehyun said before he could think twice about it. Taeyong’s face fell and Jaehyun had to look away before he felt bad about it.

“I’m sorry.” he said, taking the shirt off immediately and folding it carefully. “Uhm, last night… it was really–”

Jaehyun stood up and walked past him towards the kitchen. “You can take a shower if you want. But please make it quick, I have to be somewhere soon.”

There was silence and then, instead of an answer, Jaehyun heard the bathroom door closing and then the shower running. He made himself a coffee. It was a lie that he had to be somewhere. It was sunday, and his plans before hearing Taeyong speak on the phone were asking him to stay for breakfast, maybe even lunch and dinner.

‘ _That_   _happens when you get attached to someone after one good fuck’,_ he sighed.

Taeyong’s phone was on the table when it rang again. Jaehyun stared at it from the kitchen but at the end, curiosity won him over and he had to take a glance at the screen.

 _Doyoung_ , it said, accompanied with the picture of two guys smiling brightly at the camera. But neither of them was Taeyong. Huh, maybe they were one of those open couples that were into sleeping with other people… Jaehyun shivered at the image of someone else going over the marks he left on Taeyong’s body, claiming them back, laughing at his ingenuity…

Taeyong came back faster than expected. He looked… sad, if Jaehyun was being honest. For what reason? He couldn’t imagine why.

“I’ll be going now.” he said, sounding unsure. “Sorry for the inconvenience… I, uh… I had fun.”

Jaehyun nodded, not even looking at him but instead keeping his eyes fixed on his coffee. “Your phone is on the table.”

“Oh, right…” he hurried to gather his things and when he was done, before opening the front door, he stood there awkwardly. “Bye, then.”

Jaehyun didn’t reply. And just like that, he was gone.

 

***

 

Taeyong felt stupid. Stupid and disgusting and more stupid.

Jaehyun was an asshole. An inconsiderate jackass. A douchebag from the lowest rank. He just used Taeyong, marked him all over, made him feel special for a night and then he threw him out like a… _used condom_. Taeyong felt pathetic, thinking they could have had a nice chat in the morning, maybe have breakfast together. He had never felt more humiliated than when Jaehyun pointed out he was wearing his shirt. And what was Taeyong even thinking? Wearing it just like that, as if they were a couple, hoping Jaehyun would hug him from behind, kiss his neck…

He was in a part of town he didn’t know, so he just typed Doyoung’s address into Uber and waited. Taeyong knew he shouldn’t have listened to his friend the night before about _losing up_ and _going out for once, we have it covered_ . Taeyong was never going to go out, _ever again_ , and much less sleep with a random guy no matter how hot and sweet they were to him.

Taeyong felt terrible. The entire ride to Doyoung’s apartment he was just going over and over everything he had done the night before, everything he had said. Everything he felt when they locked eyes, when they kissed, that ‘deeper connection’ to Jaehyun… it was just in his head. In his pathetic desperation to get close to someone intimately. He probably freaked the guy out with all those kisses and gentle touches, and the next morning Jaehyun had been cold to him so Taeyong wouldn’t stick around like an annoying girlfriend.

 _When will you learn to not open up?_ he thought bitterly.

What he wasn’t expecting was breaking down to tears the minute Doyoung opened his apartment’s door.

“Tae, what happened?!” he asked, pressing his friend against his chest in a big, warm hug. “Are you okay? Oh my god, please speak because I’m picturing the worst right now.”

Before Taeyong could reply, small footsteps could be heard running towards their direction and a small voice, –Taeyong’s favorite voice in the world–, screamed loudly: “Appa!”

Taeyong wiped his tears with his sleeve quickly, before going to his knees and opening his arms wide so he could welcome the little boy running to them. “Ah, my baby boy! How’s appa’s favorite boy in the world? Ah, I missed you so much!”

He pressed loud kisses into his son’s fluffy cheeks, letting his giggles clean away every ugly thought invading his head. “Taeil-ie, were you a good boy to uncle Doyoung and uncle Ten?”

“Yes! Un-ca Ten play with Taeil-ie! We play soldier and then… and then dance!” the three year old practically yelled, moving his arms around and jumping in excitement. “And un-ca Dodo cook yummy food for Taeil-ie!”

Taeyong laughed. “That’s great! And where is uncle Ten now?”

“I’m here!” a bright voice said then. Ten, Doyoung’s boyfriend of two years, walked into the living room dressed comfortably and fresh out of the shower. He was wearing his usual bright smile but the second he spotted Taeyong’s puffy and red eyes, it disappeared from his face. “Woah, dude… are you okay?”

Taeil then also caught something was off with his dad, since he was such a smart and sensitive kid even at three. “Appa sad?”

Taeyong smiled reassuringly at him as he lifted him in his arms. “No, I’m not sad. I just missed you so much! But now that I’m here with you, appa is the happiest again!”

“Taeil, do you want to come with me to the bakery to get some sweets?” Ten asked, looking between Taeyong and the little boy in his arms. “Can we?”

Taeyong hesitated, clinging tightly to his son. “I don’t know…”

“Cake! Cake!” little Taeil giggled excitedly.

“It’s just around the corner, Tae, and no streets have to be crossed. Let them go so we can talk.” Doyoung said this time.Ten nodded as well.

Taeyong sighed, leaving his boy on the floor. “Okay… but Taeil, never let go of uncle Ten’s hand, okay? And no running away from him. Be a good boy.”

Taeil nodded, his eyes already drifting away to the door, half listening to his dad and half picturing which sweets he was going to pick from the heavenly bakery. After they were gone, Taeyong collapsed into the couch and Doyoung was right next to him in an instant.

“Tae… I’m worried, please tell me what happened.” Doyoung grabbed his hand carefully, cradling it between his own. Doyoung’s touch was always so soft, so caring. Taeyong’s life was a mess, but at least he had good, unconditional best friends.

Taeyong sighed, exhausted. “It was… I don’t know. Last night? Amazing. I’ve never felt like that with anyone. It was as if… as if we knew each other from a different life? That sounds so dumb saying it out loud. For fuck’s sake, we even cuddled all night! And we kissed like, a lot! And you know I’m not even into kissing but with him it was…” he sighed. “This morning, though… he was such an asshole, Youngie. He didn’t even look at me, he practically kicked me out of his house after… After all of that! I felt like a whore, it was so humiliating. At least he didn’t throw money to my face.”

“Tae, don’t cry.”

Taeyong hadn’t even realized he was crying until Doyoung pointed it out. “Ugh, I’m so pathetic.”

“I’m sorry for making you go out even if you didn’t want to, hyung.”

“No. It’s not your fault. It wasn’t your fault the guy was an asshole.” Taeyong reassured him. “I’m not even that mad at him, you know? I’m mad at myself, at the way a complete stranger can fuck my head up so bad and bring back all my insecurities and take me back to… to my dark place.”

“But this could have happened to anyone! We’ve all been there, hyung. Regretting a one night stand or–”

Taeyong shook his head. “This was different… it was… there was something there. I can’t explain it with words but I felt it and I was so sure he felt it too, I think that’s why it hurt so much.” he sighed. “But I’m okay. I’ll be okay, at least. I just need to hug my baby a lot and cuddle him and spoil him rotten.”

Doyoung laughed. “You have a strong competitor against you, then. Ten is crazy about him, it’s so adorable.”

“How are things between you guys?” Taeyong asked.

Doyoung blushed hard, smiling and looking away. “Things are… great, honestly. Uhm, yeah. We’re good.”

“I’m glad. I’m really happy for you.”

But Doyoung became serious once again. “Hyung, this will pass. You know you have us on your side always, right? We love you so much and Taeil too. He’s such a smart boy and well… you are not only his dad, you’re his whole world and his superhero. You have to be strong for him, but you don’t have to be strong on your own, okay?”

If it wasn’t for Taeil and Ten coming back, Taeyong would’ve burst out crying again.

“Appa! Appa! Look how much we got!” he said, half of his face covered in powdered sugar from a pastry he was eating, while waving a bag full of them in his other hand. Ten was looking down at him with such a honey-dripping look, it was sickeningly adorable.

Taeyong paled. “How much sugar is that?!”

 

***

 

Lee Taeyong was a pretty busy man. He was a twenty-one years old high school drop out with a three year old son, two jobs and a month of rent overdue. The little free time he had, –hours that he should’ve used for sleeping–, was spent reading online articles about parenthood, healthy recipes and simple crafts to decorate Taeil’s room with little to no budget. So, as expected, he didn’t have time to spare many thoughts a day to the ‘Jaehyun incident’ or his own self-hatred for that matter.

Being a single dad with a three year old also meant that accidents could happen, even if you were as careful and attentive as Taeyong. They were at the supermarket and Taeil was fidgeting a lot, wanting to run through the long and almost empty aisles, so tempting to a three year old discovering how fast his little legs could take him. Taeil loved to run so much sometimes Taeyong wondered if he should sign him up for an athleticism class.

Meanwhile, Taeyong was trying to choose between two types of pasta, reading with his poor eyesight the nutritional value to know which one had less sodium.

Two seconds. He looked at the small numbers for two seconds and Taeil was gone.

Taeyong’s blood run cold. He dropped the pasta, leaving his basket filled with groceries right there in the aisle and ran with only one thought on his head: Taeil, Taeil, _Taeil_.

  


***

 

“Mister.” a little voice said. “Taeil-ie lost.”

“Uh…” Jaehyun looked down. An adorable little boy was looking up at him with teary eyes and a pout. _Shit_. He looked around. There was absolutely no one who could help him. “Okay, uh… it’s okay. Don’t cry, I’ll help you find your mommy, okay?”

He shook his head. “Mommy not here. Mommy in heaven.”

 _Seriously, Jaehyun?_ He mentally slapped himself, great start! Suddenly the little boy in front of him looked even more small and vulnerable. Poor little thing, Jaehyun couldn’t imagine losing his mom at such a young age. “I’m sorry to hear that. Who’s here with you, then?”

“Appa.”

“Okay, okay… What’s your name?”

“Taeil-ie.”

“Taeil, let’s go find a guard, okay? They can help us find your appa.”

Taeil shook his head again. “Appa say Taeil-ie no go with other people.”

Jaehyun sighed. Nothing to say against that. “Fair enough. Then I’ll wait here with you until he comes, okay? Please don’t cry. I bet he’s super worried and he’ll be here soon.” he said, sitting on the floor next to the boy. He just hoped he didn’t look like a creep while at it.

“What your name, mister?”

“I’m Jaehyun.” he smiled, trying to look as friendly as possible. “How old are you, Taeil?”

The boy lifted three chubby fingers. “This much.”

“I see…” Jaehyun giggled at how cute he was. He noticed he was wearing a Power Rangers t-shirt and he smiled at the memories. He never imagined that TV show was still around. “Wow! Your shirt is so cool! I love Power Rangers!”

Taeil smiled delighted. “Taeil-ie is Red Power Ranger! Look!”

He then did a little dance with his hands, and yelled a couple of words Jaehyun didn’t understand, finishing with a cool pose. “Woah! Amazing!”

“Appa is Blue Power Ranger and we play like this!”

Jaehyun laughed. “That’s awesome, you really like that show?” Taeil nodded enthusiastically. “What else do you like?”

“Uh… Taeil-ie like to play with cars and draw and dancing with un-ca Ten!”

“Un-ca Ten?” Jaehyun asked, looking around them in case a guard or someone else came. Still no one.

“Un-ca Ten and un-ca Dodo take care of Taeil-ie when appa working. Un-ca Ten and un-ca Dodo are boy… boy...”

“Boyfriends?”

Taeil nodded again. “Boy-fends. Yes.”

“I see.” Jaehyun thought Taeil was a very smart little boy to be just three years old. His father was doing a great job on his own, in his opinion, if it wasn't for his child being actually lost and talking to a stranger on a supermarket. “And uh… how is your appa? What does he look like?”

“Appa is so pretty!” Taeil replied, standing up suddenly. He looked so excited and happy to talk about his dad, though _pretty_ was the last choice of words Jaehyun would’ve used at three years old to describe his own dad. “And so cool! Appa lift Taeil like this!”

He jumped with his arms raised in the air, and Jaehyun couldn’t contain his squeal at how cute Taeil was.

“Your appa lift you too, mister?”

“Well, when I was little like you he did! But since I ate all my food and drank all my milk, now I’m big and strong just like him!”

Taeil’s eyes shone in wonder. “Woah! When Taeil-ie grow up–”

“TAEIL!” a man came running towards them, taking Taeil into his arms and squeezing him tightly. After hugging him for about a minute, he put him back down and began to scold him. “How many times do I have to tell you not to run away from me?! Do you even know how worried I was?! What if someone bad had took you away?!”

Taeil’s eyes were teary again, and his lower lip formed a strong pout. “Taeil-ie sorry, appa.”

“Come here.” he hugged his son again, breathing in relief. “I’m not angry, I was just so scared, baby. Appa loves you so much.”

Meanwhile, Jaehyun was frozen on the spot.

What were the chances? This man, Taeil’s dad, currently hugging the little boy and on the verge of tears was… Taeyong. Taeyong from that one night, Taeyong who was talking to… his _baby_ , the morning after over the phone.

_Oh._

Jaehyun had fucked up.

“It’s you.” Taeyong said… hugging Taeil’s little body closer to him instinctively.

“He… he came to me saying he was lost, so I just kept him company until someone came. I’m sorry.”

“Jaehyun appa lift him too, like this!” Taeil said. Taeyong froze when he heard that name coming from his son’s mouth.

“It’s fine. Thanks for… taking care of him.” Taeyong picked Taeil up again. “Say bye, Taeil.”

“Taeyong, wait.” Jaehyun said suddenly, but he couldn’t find his words. “I… That day…”

Taeyong rolled his eyes, he turned around and kept walking rubbing soothing circles on Taeil’s back.

“I’m sorry.” he heard Jaehyun say, but he didn’t bother to stop.

 

***

 

Taeyong worked part-time as a cashier in a small store that sold very exclusive clothes for babies in the high-end part of town, and that allowed him to study during the hours where no one came in. He was trying to graduate high school via free exams, so he could maybe keep studying in the future to give Taeil and himself a better life.

His shift at the store ended at the same time Taeil got out of kindergarden so he had to run everytime so his baby wouldn’t wait so long for him. Taeil was used to it, though, but it still broke Taeyong’s heart everytime he came to the little school and Taeil was the only kid left, waiting patiently for his appa.

After that they would take a bus and run to Taeyong’s second job. He was a waiter at Doyoung’s aunt restaurant, a nice woman who adored Taeil and that let him occupy one of the tables in the corner while waiting for Taeyong to be done. Taeil would spend his afternoons drawing, coloring and running around entertaining the customers. Taeyong was eternally grateful to Doyoung’s aunt for the job and for the chance to take care of Taeil there.

From monday to thursdays, Taeyong finished his shift at nine pm and went home with a tired Taeil drowsing in his arms. On fridays, Doyoung picked Taeil up in his car and took him home since Taeyong’s shift ended at midnight. Doyoung had sacrificed every friday night to take care of Taeil since Taeyong had taken the job, and even if Taeyong offered to pay him, Doyoung had refused everytime.

Ten and Doyoung had even set up a room for Taeil to use every friday night, and they spoiled him rotten with toys, clothes, movies and coloring pencils. The young father would be eternally grateful to his friends. Besides, Taeil loved waking up on saturdays to play with his uncle Ten and eat Doyoung’s delicious food.

Taeyong would allow himself to sleep a couple of hours more every saturday morning and then he would pick up Taeil before lunch, though it had become a tradition by now for the four of them to have lunch together since Doyoung was on a quest to cook every recipe from a huge book Ten had gotten him for Christmas.

Sundays were a sacred day for Taeyong. A day where he could take Taeil to the park and play with him all day, have quality time with his baby boy, spoil him and take a nap together while cuddling.

And that was Taeyong’s life. He woke up for Taeil, worked for Taeil, lived for Taeil, and every single person involved in his life knew that and knew his priorities.

That’s why it was so hard for him to open up, to lose control or to let someone into his life because it wasn’t just his, it was also Taeil’s and he had to be careful. He had lost it that night with Jaehyun. He had put himself in danger by going to a random guy’s house and exposing himself like that. What if he was a crazy person? What if he had hurt him? Who would take care of his baby, then? Taeyong shook his head. He was probably never going to see Jaehyun again in his life, unless he was sitting in a corner of the restaurant, in that exact moment while Taeyong wiped the tables, looking at the menu.

Wait.

Jaehyun was sitting in a corner of the restaurant looking at the menu.

“What are you doing here? Are you stalking me?” Taeyong approached him angrily, looking back at where Taeil was sitting coloring, unaware of Jaehyun’s presence.

“ _What the hell_ …” Jaehyun whispered surprised. “I swear I’m not. This have been just… a very weird and creepy sequence of coincidences.”

Taeyong looked at him suspiciously. “Why are you even here? You live across the city.”

“I moved. Two blocks from here, actually, and this restaurant had four starts on Google Maps so I came… and you’re here. Again. I’m like… my head is about to explode.”

“Whatever.” Taeyong took out his pad. “What are you ordering?”

“I…” Jaehyun looked hurriedly to the menu. “I don’t know, what’s good here?”

“This is a _dakgalbi_ restaurant.” Taeyong said, rolling his eyes.

“ _Dakgalbi_ it is, then.” Jaehyun smiled. Before Taeyong could leave, Jaehyun grabbed his wrist. “Taeyong. Can I talk to you? Please? I need to apologize… I need to explain myself, I’m so sorry for how I treated you but I swear there was a reason–”

Taeyong looked at Jaehyun in the eyes, trying to read if there were hidden intentions under his honest gaze. He looked around. This was his space, everybody knew him here and he was safe and comfortable. His son was a few tables over, too. Taeyong guessed he wasn’t losing anything and he was a little curious about what Jaehyun could possibly say to apologize for that day.

“My break is in twenty.” he replied. “Let go of my wrist, please.”

Jaehyun let go as if Taeyong’s skin burn him. “Sorry.”

 

***

  


“How’s the chicken.” Taeyong said sitting across from him, leaving his apron on top of the table.

“It’s actually delicious.” Jaehyun smiled, cleaning his mouth with a napkin. “Like… the best I’ve ever tried.”

“Cool.” Taeyong crossed his arms over his chest. “I only have fifteen minutes, so you better hurry because I also want to check on my kid.”

“Right, sorry.” Jaehyun put the plate away, taking a deep breath. “I heard you on the phone that morning.”

Taeyong furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember.

“You were talking to someone with such a soft voice, calling them baby and saying you loved them. My blood boiled. I thought you were a cheater and that you had used me. I hate cheaters… So I couldn’t help but treat you like that. I was really upset and I knew I had no right to assume things or to be mean to you after the amazing night we spent.” Jaehyun blushed then, and he looked away from Taeyong’s wide eyes. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you. That night… call me crazy but I felt a connection between us. Like a pull or something… did it happen to you too? I’ve never felt that with anyone before and that’s another reason why I was so mad.”

Taeyong didn’t say anything, so Jaehyun kept going.

“But then we met at the supermarket and everything changed. You were so young it never even crossed my mind you could’ve been talking to your son.” Jaehyun smiled. “I was an asshole and rude and so tremendously stupid. I hope you can forgive me and give me another chance.”

“Another chance?”

“To get to know each other? I promise I’m not like that, I’m not a jerk. I wanted to buy you breakfast that day and ask you out but…” he sighed, looking down. “God, I’m sorry. I understand if you don’t want to. I messed up really bad and I deserve–”

“No, no…” Taeyong interrupted him. “This is just… a lot to process.”

“I understand.” Jaehyun nodded. “I know it’s probably hard for you with your baby and all but… I’m willing to try if you want to try, too? I don’t even ask for a lot of your time, I just want to get to know you. Besides, this is the second time we met as a coincidence… what are the odds?”

Taeyong kept in silence, thinking. Jaehyun would give up his left arm to know what was going inside this beautiful man’s head. His huge brown eyes caught Jaehyun’s gaze, and he felt his heart skip a beat.

“Saturday mornings are my only free time.”

Jaehyun looked at him with shining eyes and a dumbstruck smile, as if Taeyong had told him he won the lottery.

“That’s great! Amazing! Saturday morning sounds… fantastic!” Jaehyun was rambling and Taeyong laughed. “I’ll get to buy you that breakfast I owe you from last time.”

“I would like that.” Taeyong smiled back, for the first time that day, making Jaehyun gasp involuntarily at how beautiful he looked like that. So much younger and carefree.

They smiled at each other, pink dust coloring their cheeks, until a little voice yelled from the other side of the restaurant. “Appa!”

“I should go.” Taeyong stood up, taking his apron with him.

“Of course.” Jaehyun replied dumbly. Damn, he was already in too deep. And he couldn’t wait until saturday.

 

TBC.

* * *

 

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	2. the taeil incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taeyong and Jaehyun go on that date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your support! Your comments gave me the energy to finish this faster than I thought! Enjoooy!

* * *

 

“Taeyong, over here!” Jaehyun smiled sweetly at him, waving from a small table in a corner of the coffee shop. “You look beautiful.” 

Taeyong smiled awkwardly. He didn’t know how his bare face, plain old clothes and a beanie could be beautiful, but he took the compliment anyways. “Thanks, you… you look good too.”

“Thanks.” Jaehyun said proudly. He did look good. He was wearing a long dark blue coat with a white sweater underneath, and his hair fell lazily on his forehead. He looked handsome, unbelievable so, and it made Taeyong feel a little uncomfortable and self-aware. 

“This place is beautiful, I don’t usually come to coffee shops but this is so… cozy.” Taeyong looked around them. He imagined bringing Taeil here, ordering two hot chocolates and two pieces of cake. His boy would love it.

Jaehyun nodded. “I know, right? I’ll go order for us, what will you have?” 

“Uh… a latte?

“Do you like sweet things?” he asked. 

_ Well, I liked you, didn’t I?  _ Taeyong thought. “I do.”

“Excellent. I’ll be right back.”

A waiter came back then with their coffees and a bunch of very pretty sweets. “Woah, isn’t this too much?” 

Jaehyun shook his head. “Not at all. Besides, I want to apologize again. For that day… I really regret what I did.”

“It’s fine. You don’t have to.” Taeyong hurried to say. “Please, it’s fine. It was just a misunderstanding.”

Jaehyun nodded, relieved. “So, can we start over? Hi, I’m Jaehyun.” 

Taeyong smiled shyly, remembering what Jaehyun had said after introducing himself that night at the club. “Just Jaehyun?” 

“Ugh,” Jaehyun covered his face, embarrassed. “Yes, just Jaehyun. Oh god, I had forgotten about that terrible line. Jung Jaehyun, that sounds better, right?” 

“It does.” Taeyong laughed. “Well, I’m Lee Taeyong. Nice to meet you, Jaehyun.” 

As the date progressed, the pair began to learn more about each other. Taeyong discovered Jaehyun was journalist and that he had lived in America for four years when he was a kid.

“Okay, it’s your turn to ask me something.” Taeyong smiled behind his coffee mug. 

Jaehyun thought about it for a while. “Um… okay, how old are you?”

“Isn’t it a little late to ask me that?” Taeyong joked and to his delight, Jaehyun laughed back. “I’m twenty one.”

“Wow… that’s… young. You’re younger than I thought.” 

“How old are you?”

“Older than you.” Jaehyun smiled shyly, looking at his coffee.

Taeyong whined. “Oh, come on!” 

“Okay, okay. I’m twenty seven.” 

That was older than Taeyong thought. He looked no older than twenty two. Besides, that night at the club with his hair pushed up and that leather jacket and tight pants… Well, Jaehyun’s skills in bed had to come from somewhere, Taeyong thought, and that somewhere was probably experience. “That’s not that big of a difference. Ok, my turn. What’s your favorite movie?”

“Blade Runner.” Jaehyun answered without hesitation. “When you were a kid, what did you want to do when you grew up?”

“I wanted to be many things! An astronaut, a veterinarian, a chef.” he laughed. “But now I’m a waiter. Oh, and I work at a store that sells clothes for babies.”

“That’s cute.” 

“Yeah, the babies are cute but the parents… ugh. It’s super exclusive and expensive so you can imagine the type of people I have to deal with. Who even buys a tiny onesie worth two of my salaries for a baby that will grow into it in a month?”

Jaehyun laughed hard, and in between their eyes met. Taeyong looked away, smiling, and Jaehyun was pleased to see how his cheeks colored red. 

“So uh… what’s your favorite food?” Taeyong asked next.

“Anything my mom makes.” Jaehyun replied honestly. “Is that lame?”

“Not at all.” Without realizing, Taeyong kept smiling at everything Jaehyun said. It wasn’t really common for him, to feel so at ease with someone he barely knew. Hell, Doyoung would be surprised if he told him he was on an actual date with a guy, getting to know someone new, opening up and smiling and eating cake. But Jaehyun had that power over him, apparently, and he was enjoying it. 

The date went smoothly. They discovered they had so much in common, they liked the same movies and the same music, they enjoyed having comfortable days at home and aimed to have a comfortable life in the future. They also had a very similar sense of humor, which was essential for a first date to work out. Taeyong was thankful Jaehyun’s questions had remained in the light side of the spectrum instead of wondering about Taeil or his past, since it was a little too early for that and it was hard for Taeyong to open up in that kind of way. 

By the end of the date the pair had exchanged phone numbers and a promise to meet again soon. With a hug that lasted longer than average, they went their separate ways. 

 

***

 

Taeyong walked to Doyoung and Ten’s apartment with a giddy feeling in his chest. He felt light, rested, like he wanted to laugh and dance. It was different from his usual mood, always worrying about something, either the money, the future or Taeil, or those three things combined.

When Taeyong arrived his friends’ place to pick Taeil up, their living room was transformed into a gigantic racetrack made with books and plants and everything available around the house so Taeil’s Hot Wheels cars could compete. Ten was on his hands and knees moving the tiny cars through the tracks they had created, narrating loudly how the race was developing, while Taeil did the same and giggled like crazy when Ten’s cars came too close to his own. 

“Don’t even ask.” Doyoung smiled at him. “Taeil-ie! Appa’s here!”

“Appa!” Taeil dropped his cars to go hug his dad, but when he noticed Ten wasn’t stopping the race, he whined. “No! No, un-ca Ten!”

“Oh, I’m gonna win! I’m gonna win!” Ten laughed, making the cars move slowly towards Taeil’s forgotten ones. 

Taeil bursted out crying. “Un-ca Ten so mean!” 

And there it went Taeyong’s peaceful morning. 

“Aw, Taeil don’t cry, it’s just a game!” Taeyong ran to the rescue.

“I’m sorry, Taeil-ie, uncle Ten was just joking!” Ten hugged him tight, clearly feeling very guilty about his favorite playmate’s tears, and he dried his wet cheeks and snotty nose with his sleeve. “Look! Oh no, my cars crashed!” 

Ten did a show of his cars crashing between each other and exploding and it actually made Taeil laugh. Taeyong sighed in relief and went to the kitchen to see what was Doyoung up to. He found him stirring a steaming pot of… something, while reading the instructions in his gigantic recipe book like a crazy scientist. 

“Tae, can you help me with those potatoes? I’m super late with lunch today, this recipe is way harder than I thought.”

“Sure,” Taeyong smiled, washing his hands before getting to work. He could hear his son’s laughs from the living room. Seemed like everything had gone back to normal. 

He began chopping vegetables quietly, thinking about his date, about Jaehyun’s smile and his warm eyes. He thought about their hug and the way their legs touched under the small table. It was new, he hadn’t felt this way about anyone ever before. It reminded of the time Doyoung met Ten and the way his friend was lost in thought the entire day if he wasn’t smiling dumbly at the thai boy.

When he turned around to ask what should he do with the vegetables, Doyoung was right there looking directly at him just inches away from his face. Taeyong almost jumped out of his skin. “ _ Shit- _ What the hell, Doyoung?! You scared me!”

“Who are you and what did you do to my friend?”

“What?! Look who’s talking, you weirdo.” 

“You’re different today. You were  _ singing  _ and  _ smiling to yourself _ , you never do that.”

Taeyong scoffed. “So I can’t be happy just because? I’m cooking, which I love to do, I’m with you guys, whom I also love and I can hear Taeil having fun in the living room, what else could I ask for?” 

Doyoung looked suspiciously at his friend. “Mmm, okay. If you don’t want to tell me it’s okay, I guess. _ For now _ .” 

Taeyong made a scandalized face. “What do you mean-”

But before he could complain, Ten came rushing through the kitchen door with Taeil on his shoulders. “Bunny, I’m hungry!” 

“Appa, Taeil-ie hungry!” Taeil copied Ten, both of them laughing. If Taeyong didn’t know any better, he would question if Ten was also his son and this were indeed a pair of long-lost brothers. 

“I’m almost done! Ten, can you set up the table? And take Taeil away from here, it’s dangerous.” 

Taeyong wasn’t sure why he didn’t mention anything about Jaehyun and their date to Doyoung. Probably because, if anything failed, he didn’t want his friends’ pity again, he didn’t want to seem like a burden more than he already was. It wasn’t that he thought of Jaehyun as his dirty little secret, but it was too soon to mix things up. Looking at his baby shoving food inside his mouth, Ten kissing Doyoung’s cheek and the latter shyly brushing him away, it really felt like a complete picture. 

Or at least he tried to convince himself of it. 

 

***

  
  


It became sort of a tradition for Jaehyun and Taeyong to meet every saturday morning. This was their third date in a row and they were currently having a slow walk on the park, enjoying the cold morning’s air. 

Jaehyun looked down at Taeyong, who was walking silently by his side. No matter how many times he saw him, either be morning, afternoon or night, Taeyong always looked breathtakingly beautiful. He had hard features that softened when he smiled, his profile was museum worthy and his laugh made the clouds go away. 

However, there was something about him that he couldn’t quite decipher. Like a glass that surrounded him, as if he was a beautiful but unreachable piece of art. It was a little unsettling, not being sure where were Taeyong’s limitations. What was he willing to do or accept from Jaehyun. It didn’t really bother Jaehyun that Taeyong hadn’t introduce him to his son, -even if they had already met once before-, but what was a little weird was the fact that Taeyong avoided even talking about him. 

In their second date, Jaehyun had asked more about Taeyong’s family, but his response had left him a little unsatisfied. 

_ “It’s just me and my little boy. I had to dropout out of high school to take care of him, but really it’s not that of a dramatic story. Do you have any siblings?”  _

And that was enough to make Jaehyun clear that he didn’t want to touch the topic. 

So, in an act of bravery and madness, Jaehyun decided that maybe Taeyong needed a little push. As they were walking in silence, the taller interlocked his fingers with Taeyong’s and he kept walking like nothing had happened. When he dared to look at Taeyong’s reaction, the smaller man was smiling with the cutest pink blush on his cheeks.

Success. 

“I was wondering if you had something to do tomorrow?” 

“Why?”

“I don’t know, I was thinking maybe… we could spend the day together? Have a picnic at the park or go watch a movie, something like that.”

Taeyong shook his head. “Well, I’ll be with Taeil so… I can’t, really.”

Jaehyun cleared this throat. “Well, what I meant was that we could spend the day together… the three of us.”

“Uh…” Taeyong tensed. “I don’t know.”

“Oh.” Jaehyun felt a little disappointed, but he smiled nonetheless. “That’s okay.”

“Maybe we can do something together, next friday night? Just the two of us. My shift ends at midnight.”

And just like that, Jaehyun was happy again. “I would love that.” 

They kept walking like that, hand in hand, until they were just a few steps away from Doyoung’s place. 

“I had fun today.” Taeyong smiled, squeezing Jaehyun’s hand and not letting go just yet. 

“Me too, I love spending time with you.” Jaehyun said with sincerity. 

The big tree above them filtered the light, leaving beautiful patterns all over Taeyong’s face. Jaehyun felt his heart skip a beat when Taeyong smiled sweetly at him, white teeth and high cheekbones in all their glory. And really, Jaehyun was just a man. A man with a big fat crush on this gorgeous creature smiling at him, holding his hand. What else could have he done at that moment other than kiss him senseless? 

It was the most amazing, fulfilling, sweet kiss he had ever given. It reminded him of that night of passion with Taeyong, but without the desperation and anticipation of what was to come. This kiss was slower, tender, and it gave the chance for the both of them to find a rhythm and to taste each other properly. Jaehyun smiled when he felt Taeyong shiver after running his fingers through his soft hair, and he took the liberty to wrap his other hand around Taeyong’s waist to push him closer against his body. They broke the kiss for the only reason they were in public and they didn’t want to attract unwanted attention, but if there weren’t curious eyes staring at them, Jaehyun wasn’t sure if he would’ve been able to stop. 

Taeyong was addictive. His beauty, his laugh, his personality, his entire being was a drug to Jaehyun. When they were apart, he was the only thing on Jaehyun’s mind. 

And honestly, he didn’t even mind. 

 

***

 

On thursday, Taeyong received a call from Doyoung. 

“Hello?”

Doyoung sounded worried and tired, never a good sign coming from his friend. “ _ Tae, hi. How are you? I’m so sorry this is so rushed but I won’t be able to pick up Taeil tomorrow _ .” 

“Why? What happened?”

“ _ Ten’s grandma passed away and we’re flying to Thailand for the funeral. _ ”

Taeyong gasped. He knew how close Ten was to his family. “Oh, I’m so sorry. How’s Ten?” 

“ _ He’s fine, she was very sick so it wasn’t that unexpected but he still wants to go to be with his mom and sister and I feel like I have to go with him. _ ” Doyoung explained. “ _ I’m really sorry, Tae.” _

“Of course. Hey, don’t worry about us, I’ll manage.” Taeyong tried to sound confident. 

“ _ Ask my aunt if you can leave earlier, she’ll understand.”  _

Taeyong doubted it. Mark, -Taeyong’s coworker- was sick, so there was no one else to replace him. “Will do. Don’t worry about anything, Doyoungie. You do so much for us already. Now it’s time to take care of your other baby, right?”

Doyoung laughed. “ _ Yeah, my twenty two year old baby who gives me more trouble than your three year old. Thank you, Tae. Send a kiss to Taeil for me, yeah? _ ”

Taeyong packed a bag for Taeil that friday morning before going to his first job. He put in some blankets, Mr. Bunny (Taeil’s favorite plushie), a tupperware with Taeil’s dinner, his bottle and his pajamas. His plan was asking Doyoung’s aunt if he could set up a bed in her office for Taeil to sleep until midnight. Her office had a fluffy carpet and the noise from the restaurant couldn’t be heard. It would be perfect for Taeil to rest. 

What hurt him the most, though, was having to wake him up and take the freezing walk back home. He really didn’t have money for a taxi and the last bus parted at eleven, so he wouldn’t have any other option than to wrap Taeil up in everything he owned and pray the gods it wouldn’t snow that night. 

Luckily, Doyoung’s aunt didn’t mind at all and she actually felt very sorry she couldn’t let Taeyong leave early. However, Taeil had no plans in going to sleep, and even after dressing him in his onesie, giving him his bottle and tucking him under the blankets with Mr. Bunny, Taeil suddenly appeared running around the tables to the delight of all the customers. 

“Taeil, go to bed. Appa is working and it’s way past your bedtime.” he begged, kneeling besides his son. 

Taeil crossed his arms cutely as he pouted. “Taeil-ie no want to sleep!” 

“Please be a good boy… if you are good I’ll get you a new coloring book, how does that sound?”

Taeil looked unconvinced. “Appa, where unca Dodo?

“I already told you he had to go on a trip,” Taeyong sighed tiredly. A customer asked for the check while another one looked at him with a nasty look, still waiting for their water. He apologized, before kneeling once again. “Go play in auntie’s office. Mr. Bunny is all alone.” 

For a while, this seemed to work. Taeil looked worredly at his dad and went running to the rescue of his plushie. Taeyong looked at the hour, ten thirty. Just one and a half hours to go. Taeil disappeared into the office for about fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes where Taeyong had to run here and there, taking care of all the tables by himself. He was exhausted, he hadn’t eaten all day and the people weren’t being really comprehensive of his situation. 

When he was finally waiting for the last customers to finish their meal and pay the check, after cleaning all the tables and wiping the floor, Taeyong was in a state of beyond exhaustion. 

He went to check on his baby one more time. He was fighting with himself not to fall asleep. Taeyong felt his heart ache, of course Taeil didn’t want to fall asleep somewhere unfamiliar. 

“I’m so sorry, baby. We are going home soon, okay?” 

“Okay.” he nodded, rubbing his eyes.

When Taeyong went back out to see if the last costumers were done, a little surprise was awaiting him. 

_ Shit _ . He had completely forgotten about their date. 

Jaehyun was standing there in all his night-out clothes glory. He looked gorgeous. Hair parted, leather jacket and skinny jeans. Dimpled smile and hopeful eyes. Everything Taeyong wasn’t at this very moment.

“Tae! Hey!” he hugged him warmly. “You aren’t done yet? It’s okay, I can wait over there.” 

“Uh… Jaehyun, I-” 

“Waiter? Can we get the check, please?”

Taeyong groaned inside. “Sorry, I have to…”

“Sure! There’s no rush.” Jaehyun sat in one of the many unoccupied tables, looking with a warm gaze as Taeyong did his job. When the couple in the table finally left, Taeyong let himself fall into a chair. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah… Uh, Jaehyun there was a problem.” Taeyong stood up and walked to the office, making a gesture for Jaehyun to follow. “Doyoung, my friend that takes care of Taeil on fridays couldn’t pick him out today and…”

When Taeyong opened the door, Jaehyun was met with the most adorable view. Taeil was sleeping soundly on an improvised bed on the floor, under many blankets while he hugged a bunny plushie. 

“I’m sorry, I totally forgot to let you know. I’m so sorry.” 

“Hey, it’s fine.” Jaehyun smiled. “Besides I got to see you now, right?” 

“Yeah… I look gross, though.” he joked half-heartedly.

“Well, I think you look beautiful.” 

Taeyong smiled. He felt his face growing hot, so he looked away. “Uhm, I think I should take Taeil home, now.”

“Do you need some help?” 

“No, no… I’ll just… wrap him up and beg it doesn’t start to snow on our walk back home.” it would be the icing of the cake, if it suddenly began to snow. Taeyong looked outside. It looked so cold and dark. 

“Wait… you’ll  _ walk  _ home? In this weather? Are you crazy?!” 

“Well, I can’t spend the night here in the restaurant. Can I?” 

“No, no, no. I came here in my car. I’ll drive you both home. Come on, I won’t take a no for an answer.” Jaehyun said firmly. Taeyong felt like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders and he could finally breathe again. 

“Thank you.” he breathed, and Jaehyun smiled at him and at how relieved he sounded. 

Taeyong grabbed his things and very carefully lifted Taeil into his arms. The little boy stirred a little, but he didn’t wake up. Poor baby, he was probably so tired. 

The three of them arrived at Taeyong’s place in no time. Taeyong put Taeil to bed while Jaehyun waited in the living room. He made sure to tuck him in, turn on his night lamp and kiss his forehead. 

“Sleeping like a baby.” Taeyong smiled at Jaehyun when he was done. Jaehyun was standing in the middle of the living room. He looked so tall and handsome as always, somehow bigger than before, in contrast to Taeyong small apartment. “Thank you so much for the ride and… for understanding.” 

Jaehyun just smiled, walking closer to Taeyong until they were standing right in front of each other. It was dark, just the light from the kitchen reflecting into their eyes as they stared at each other. 

“Can I kiss you?” Jaehyun whispered, his warm breath touching Taeyong’s lips. Instead of an answer, Taeyong closed the little distance between them, wrapping his arms around Jaehyun’s neck and kissing him deeply. 

Jaehyun sighed into the kiss. It was just as good as their kiss the week before, slow and tender. But right here, in the darkness and in the middle of Taeyong’s living room everything felt different. The kiss took no time in getting heated. Taeyong’s hands traveled all over Jaehyun’s broad back while Jaehyun’s rested comfortably on Taeyong’s waist. His mouth traveled down, kissing his jaw and his neck, sucking a mark over Taeyong’s shoulder. 

Taeyong was intoxicating and he never wanted to stop. 

“Jae…” Taeyong moaned, shivering at the feeling of Jaehyun’s hot mouth on his skin. “I’m all gross…”

Jaehyun didn’t care. He didn’t care that Taeyong was coming from a long shift, he just wanted to eat him up. To drink everything Taeyong had to give. 

“Shower?” Jaehyun smiled teasingly, chuckling at the way Taeyong’s face got red. They walked stumbling to the bathroom, kissing and shrugging each other’s clothes, throwing them around wherever they fell in the hallway. 

Once they were inside the bathroom, Taeyong broke the kiss, gasping for air. “But… Taeil…” 

“Don’t worry.” Jaehyun whispered against his mouth. “I’ll leave before he wakes up.” 

That was enough for Taeyong, apparently, because before he knew it, they were naked, skin against skin under the hot shower spray, kissing and touching as if they had missed each other for decades. It certainly felt like that to Jaehyun, because when Taeyong dropped to his knees in front of him, he had no idea how he had survived his twenty-seven years of life without having Taeyong like this everyday. 

 

***

 

The morning after, Jaehyun woke up to his alarm feeling warm but extremely tired. It was six in the morning on a sunday and there was nowhere else he wanted to be other than here, spooning Taeyong’s small body, wrapped under warm and soft blankets that smelled like him. 

But he had made a promise, and if he knew something about little kids was that they woke up during inhuman hours. 

So he stood up, naked, stepping into the cold ass air in the room, sleepy and tired and trying to find his clothes scattered all over the room. 

“Jae?” he heard Taeyong’s sleepy voice. He looked adorable, pouting from under the covers with his messy hair and half-closed eyes. “What time is it?” 

“Early. Go back to sleep.” Jaehyun smiled reassuringly. 

“No, I’ll make you breakfast.” Taeyong shivered when he kicked the covers away. “Shit, it’s cold today.”

“You really don’t have to, Tae! Just go back to sleep, you need it.” 

But Taeyong wasn’t taking a no for an answer. He wrapped himself in a oversized hoodie and some jogging pants and walked to the kitchen while yawning. Jaehyun smiled to himself. 

When Jaehyun was ready, he went to the kitchen while taking a peek at Taeyong’s apartment. This was his first time here, since the night before was dark and the only thing he noticed was Taeyong’s bed. 

The place was small but very clean and beautifully decorated. Next to Taeyong’s room there was the only bathroom in the apartment and next to that was a door half open. Curiosity killed the cat, they said, but Jaehyun couldn’t stop himself to take a peek inside. It was clearly Taeil’s bedroom, and it was the bedroom any kid dreamt of having. It had a racetrack carpet, a small bookshelf filled with colorful books, a toy box, many Hot Wheels’ cars scattered around the floor, shelves on the walls with dinosaurs and other collectible toys and, to Jaehyun’s delight, the walls had handmade posters of the numbers, the alphabet, types of transportations and types of animals.

And of course, in a corner, under a Power Ranger bedspread and nothing else than a bed shaped like a car, was a small lump sleeping soundly. 

Taeyong really adored this little boy. 

Said man was waiting for the water to boil for their coffees, and the smell of toasts made Jaehyun’s stomach finally wake up. 

They had breakfast quietly, sipping their coffees while standing close, exchanging shy smiles and warm gazes in that freezing morning. It was quiet and domestic and Jaehyun really couldn’t help himself when he closed the distance between them and kissed Taeyong on the lips. It was a lazy and sweet kiss, and Taeyong responded eagerly to it, tilting his head to deepen it, to taste more of Jaehyun. The taller sighed pleasantly, wrapping his arm around Taeyong’s waist to keep him there. 

“Appa?” 

Taeyong jumped away from Jaehyun in a quarter of a second, looking as if he was caught doing an unspeakable crime. Taeil was still half asleep, hugging his bunny plushie and wearing an adorable blue onesie, while rubbing his sleepy eyes. 

“Good morning, baby.” Taeyong took him into his arms, kissing his forehead. “It’s cold today, do you want to have your milk in bed? I’ll let you use your bottle.”

But Taeil had already noticed Jaehyun’s presence, and was currently looking at him confused. 

“Hi, Taeil.” Jaehyun smiled. 

“Hi.” he replied shyly, hiding his face into his dad’s neck. “Appa?”

Taeyong smiled. “Taeil-ie, do you remember Jaehyun? He kept you company when you got lost in the supermarket.” 

Taeil didn’t seem to remember. He took a peek at Jaehyun but he quickly hid again. Taeyong gave an apologetic look to him and went to Taeil’s room once again. 

Jaehyun sighed. His plan had backfired and Taeil had woken up anyways before he could leave. He just hoped Taeyong wasn’t upset, but really… he was the one that offered to cook breakfast, right? However, Taeil had seen them kissing and he honestly didn’t know how could you explain that to a three year old. 

And there was also another tiny problem. When he looked outside the window, the entire city was covered in a thick white blanket. His car was buried under what it was at least a meter of snow that reached up to its doors. There was no way he could leave like that. 

“Oh. That’s a lot of snow.” Taeyong said, coming back to the kitchen to heat up Taeil’s milk. 

“Yeah…” Jaehyun said awkwardly. “I’ll have to take the bus or something because my car is totally buried.” 

“Hey, it’s fine.” Taeyong smiled. “You can stay. We can have lunch and spend the day together like you asked me to last week.”

“Would you be okay with that? I don’t want to pressure you into anything, Tae.” 

Taeyong shook Taeil’s bottle, mixing the formula. “It’s fine, really. Let’s go back to bed so we can catch a couple of hours more of sleep, okay? I’ll put on a movie for Taeil.”

The smaller interlocked his fingers with Jaehyun’s, leading him back to the bedroom. Jaehyun looked up at the sky, silently thanking whoever was watching from over there.

 

***

 

The weeks after Taeyong finally opened the doors of his home to Jaehyun, the older found the way to adapt himself to Taeyong and Taeil’s routine. During those days, it wasn’t weird to find him during the week waiting for Taeyong to be done at nine to pick them both up and drive them home. Sometimes he would stay and other times he would leave after a quick kiss.

Taeil already had a nickname for him: unca Jae-un. And Jaehyun  _ adored  _ it. Taeil was so easy to love, just like his dad he would realize, and also very, very hard not to spoil. 

Jaehyun liked this. He liked taking care of them and getting to know them more everyday. However, Taeyong was still very quiet about himself, his past and his other friends. Taeyong had many pictures framed in the living room: mostly of a very cute and toothless Taeil, Taeil being carried by who he assumed was Doyoung and Ten, and there was one of Taeyong in his school uniform with a small and pink newborn in his arms. Taeyong was looking down at the little bundle so in the picture one could see only the top of his head, however, the real charm of the picture was that Taeil was looking up at him with his huge, dark and innocent eyes.

Something that had also caught Jaehyun’s attention was a picture of a girl sitting alone on a bench. She was smiling at the camera, wearing the same school uniform Taeyong was wearing in the other picture. Maybe this was Taeil’s mom, but there weren’t pictures of them together. No pictures from Taeyong’s family, either.

Jaehyun really didn’t want to pry. He wanted to be a patient and understanding friend, but he couldn’t help but wonder… was Taeyong’s past the reason he didn’t want to introduce him to Doyoung and Ten?

 

***

 

Taeil had been whiny the entire day. 

Since he woke up in the morning he cried saying he didn’t want to go to school, he barely touched his breakfast and he ran away from Taeyong when he tried to put on his coat and boots. 

He cried when Taeyong dropped him off, something that he had never done before because he loved playing and drawing with his friends. Still, Taeyong had no choice than to leave him. He was already late and he had to open the baby clothes store that morning. It made him feel awful the entire day, so when his shift was over he made sure to run extra fast to pick him up. Taeil looked better then. Another one of his friends was still waiting for their mom to pick them up so at least Taeil wasn’t alone this time. 

Taeyong texted Doyoung, asking him if he could pick Taeil earlier at the restaurant because he was being really weird. He wanted Taeyong to pick him up and to play with him, two things he literally couldn’t do while waitressing. Doyoung had no problem with it, so at four o’clock, Taeil was already into his uncle’s arms saying bye to his dad. 

Taeyong breathed out. Doyoung and Ten would take care of him well, paying all the attention he currently couldn’t give to his son. 

The day passed fast. Like every friday night, the restaurant was packed and he didn’t even notice when the clock struck twelve. And then, like a prince out of a fairytale, there was Jaehyun waiting for him to take him home. 

“I’ve been calling you but I think your phone is off.” he smiled, pressing a warm kiss to Taeyong’s chapped ones. 

“Oh, yeah… It’s in my backpack, I forgot to charge it last night. It had like three percent when I texted Doyoung today.” Taeyong sighed, kissing and hugging Jaehyun back. 

“You texted Doyoung and not even a little heart for me?” Jaehyun complained, but by his tone Taeyong knew he was just joking. Jaehyun knew how packed and hectic Taeyong’s life was. He would never demand of him something as silly as a text.  

“Take me home and I’ll compensate you for it, yeah?” Taeyong gave Jaehyun the sultriest gaze he could muster after a long shift, but by the way Jaehyun’s pupils dilated it seemed to work just fine.

Once at home, Taeyong pushed Jaehyun into the bed, making him sit there while Taeyong put on a little show. He stood there, looking back at those hungry eyes eating him alive, and very slowly began to take his clothes off. He didn’t miss the little gasp Jaehyun made in the back of his throat, and it gave Taeyong the confidence he needed to continue. 

His jacket fell to the floor and then he opened his dress shirt one button at a time. Taeyong let it fall through his arms and very slowly walked until he was standing between Jaehyun’s legs. 

“Help me out?” Taeyong whispered, running a hand through Jaehyun’s soft brown locks. 

Jaehyun fell to his knees. 

 

***

 

“Wow… that was…” Jaehyun gasped, trying to catch his breath. “Amazing. You’re amazing.”

Taeyong lied next to him, covered in sweat as his chest went up and down. “Thanks. You too.”

Taeyong made a motion to stand up, but Jaehyun was faster, hugging him around his waist. “Noooo, don’t go~”

“I need to charge my phone, I’ll be right back!” Taeyong laughed. Jaehyun let him go but not before stealing another kiss. 

Taeyong just put on a hoodie and ran to the freezing living room. His phone was completely dead in a forgotten corner of his backpack so he ran back to his bedroom and sat on the bed to charge it. Jaehyun was in the bathroom so meanwhile Taeyong waited for his phone to turn on. He wanted to check on Doyoung, ask him if Taeil had finally calmed down. 

It took a long while for the damned thing to charge enough, but when it finally did, Taeyong felt his soul leave his body. 

Hundreds of notifications began to arrive. His phone kept vibrating over and over with all the texts and calls he had missed. 

Twenty six missed calls from Doyoung.

Nineteen missed calls from Ten. 

And several,  _ several  _ texts. 

 

**Doyoung**

_22:12_ _TY answer your phone_

 _22:35_ _answer the damn phone_

 _23:01_ _it’s abt taeil_

 _23:35_ _i know u r working but please call me back as soon as you see this_

 _00:05_ _tae?????? pls taeil is sick_

 _00:30_ _where r u???????_

 _00:42_ _taeil is sick and we dont know what to do_

 _00:47_ _ty ty ty ty ty_

 _00:50_ _dont fucking scare me where the fuck are you_

 _01:13_ _we’re taking taeil to the hospital answer the phone_

 _01:39_ _we need a legal guardian to sign him up ty im fkcing livid right now_

 

**Ten**

_22:45_ _taeyong answer the phone pls_

 _22:45_ _dont freak out but taeil is sick_

 _00:38_ _pls answer, doyoung is about to explode_

 _01:20_ _we’re at the hospital_

 _01:24_ _come quick before dy actually commits a crime_

  
  


Taeyong was going to be sick. 

With shaky fingers he called back. His entire body was shaking, he was sweating cold and his vision was blurry. His baby was sick, enough for his friends to take him to the hospital. And he wasn’t  _ there with him _ . 

Doyoung didn’t pick up but Ten did. 

_ “Taeyong, where the fuck are you?!”  _

“How’s Taeil?”

Doyoung’s voice could be heard in the background _. Is that Taeyong?! Give me the phone!  _

_ “He’s here with us, we’re waiting for the doctor because the hospital is a chaos right now. But at least they gave us a stretcher and a nurse already checked him out.”  _

“Oh, god…” Taeyong’s shoulders shook as he sobbed. “What happened?”

_ “He had a fever when Doyoung arrived home with him and then he threw up before dinner and he wouldn’t stop. He kept crying and saying his head hurt… I don’t know, Tae. Come quick please, Taeil really misses you and you need to fill like, a bunch of papers. Bring Taeil’s documents, too.” _

Taeyong nodded. “Of course. Can I talk to him, please?” 

_ “Sure. Wait a sec.”  _

_ ‘What happened? Is he coming? Give me the phone.’ _

_ ‘Doyoung, shut up.’ _

“ _ Appa? _ ” Taeil’s weak little voice was what did it for him. Taeyong was barely breathing at this point. 

“Baby, how are you? How do you feel?” he asked, trying to keep his voice as normal as possible.

“ _ Taeil-ie head hurt. _ ”

“Baby, I’m so sorry... appa is sorry. I’ll be there super duper fast, okay? Just wait a little more, your uncles will take care of you.”

“ _ Okay _ .” he replied softly. “ _ Taeil-ie miss appa. _ ”

“I miss you too, my baby. I love you so, so much. Please wait a little more, I’m on my way.” 

When he hang up, Taeyong collapsed. He couldn’t stop sobbing, he felt so useless, so undeserving. He had no idea how the hell was he supposed to face his son and his friends in this situation. He was a mess.

“Tae?” he felt Jaehyun touching his shoulders softly. Taeyong fell into his arms. “Is Taeil okay?”

“They are at the hospital, he- he was vomiting and he had a high fever…” Taeyong cried. “And I wasn’t  _ there _ , Jaehyun, I wasn’t there...”

Jaehyun held him tightly, rubbing soothing circles on his back. “Sh, calm down. This things happen, kids get sick. Let’s go, Tae. Taeil needs you.” 

Jaehyun grabbed Taeyong’s hand and pulled him up so he could get dressed, and he did while trying to calm himself, taking deep breaths mixed with more tears. When he was done, both of them jumped into Jaehyun’s car on their way to the hospital.

Once there, the nurse guided them to the box where Taeil was. His little boy was lying down on the stretcher while Doyoung ran his fingers through his sweaty hair and sang softly to him. Ten was sitting close, too, caressing Taeil’s small foot. The three of them noticed Taeyong at the same time. 

“Appa...” Taeil pouted, breaking into tears the minute he saw his dad. He had been containing, like no three year old ever should, for the sake of being a good boy for his appa and his uncles. 

Taeyong hugged him tightly, kissing his burning forehead and touching him all over. “Baby, appa is sorry. I’ll never  _ ever  _ leave you again, I love you so much my baby Taeil-ie, how do you feel? Where does it hurt?” 

“Here.” Taeil pointed at his head. His cheeks were burning red and his eyes, too. 

“Did a doctor come? Are you still waiting?” Taeyong then asked to Ten and Doyoung. 

“Yeah, she came to say she was fixing a broken arm and Taeil was next. She should be here anytime soon.” Ten explained. Doyoung was looking at Taeyong with a deadly gaze. 

“You better have a good explanation for this.” he said low enough so Taeil wouldn’t hear. “We called you for  _ hours _ .”

Taeyong shivered. Doyoung was scary when he was angry. “I-”

“Unca Jae-un?” 

And now, four pair of eyes fell on the man still standing at the door. 

“Hi, Taeil-ie.” Jaehyun smiled sweetly, ignoring the confused gazes on him, and instead he walked to the bed until he could grab Taeil’s small hands between his. “You made us very worried, little buddy.” 

“Unca Jae-un worry for Taeil-ie?”

“A little bit. But you know what? I know you are a super strong Power Ranger and Power Rangers aren’t afraid of anything, right?”

Taeil nodded and a small smile formed in his lips. 

Doyoung and Ten were staring perplexed this exchange. 

“Who are you?” Doyoung asked.

“What’s going on?” Ten said at the same time. 

But before anyone could explain anything, the doctor finally came.

“How are we doing over here?” she smiled brightly at Taeil and the three men in the room. She began asking questions about the symptoms, since when he was throwing up, how high had the fever gotten and Taeyong felt extremely helpless as Doyoung and Ten answered everything. 

Taeil was very quiet as he was being examined. The doctor touched his neck, checked his ears and eyes with a flashlight. Taeyong observed everything from closely. Taeil whined when she tried to move his legs. 

“Does this hurt, Taeil?” she asked trying to stretch his left leg. Taeil nodded. Big fat tears were already falling from his cheeks again. “Okay, I’m going to call another doctor for a second opinion, but this looks a lot like meningitis.”

Taeyong and Doyoung gasped. “Oh no…”

“If my colleague agrees, we’ll have to perform a lumbar puncture on Taeil to be completely sure. Who’s Taeil’s father?”

“I am.” Taeyong said. The doctor made a motion for them to speak privately outside.

“Meningitis can be serious but since we found it very early and the symptoms correspond to viral meningitis, which can be treated with antibiotics, the chances of secondary effects are very slim.” 

Taeyong felt like he was going to throw up his own heart. “Okay…” 

“It’s good that you brought him early. Now you have to be strong because lumbar puncture can be a little hard to watch for the parents.” 

Taeyong swallowed. If looking at his baby with a fever in a hospital bed was already hard enough, it sure would be tough to see Taeil get that thing without passing out. 

 

***

 

Taeil was released from the hospital three hours later, after lots of crying from both the father and the son, injections and very strict indications for Taeil to stay in bed for at least three days before coming to the hospital again for a check up, -or earlier if his headaches came back or the fever or the vomit-, and a thousand other indications Taeyong wrote and memorized. 

Doyoung and Ten kept sending curious gazes to Jaehyun. To the way he reassured Taeyong, squeezing his hand as the doctor pushed a needle on Taeil’s spine. The poor boy almost threw the hospital down with his crying. Even Doyoung had to leave the room while it was happening, because it was too painful to see someone so dear suffer so much. 

“I’ll drive you both home.” Jaehyun offered while Taeyong signed the last few papers so he could take Taeil out of the hospital. 

“Don’t worry. Doyoung already offered me and he doesn’t want to leave Taeil just yet.” 

Jaehyun knew this wasn’t the time or place to be upset. Taeyong was clearly exhausted, Taeil was finally sleeping peacefully after crying so much into his uncle Doyoung’s arms and Ten kept looking at him with a question mark all over his face. Jaehyun had never asked anything from Taeyong, but at least he thought, by now, Taeyong would’ve had at least mentioned him to his friends. It hurt a little that they had no idea who he was. 

“I don’t think you should spend the night alone tonight.” Jaehyun insisted, grabbing Taeyong’s hand and squeezing it hard. “Please don’t push me away this time.”

Taeyong looked at him in the eyes. They were red and puffy and it made Jaehyun’s heart ache. He shook his head. “No, we’ll be fine. I’ll be fine.” 

“Tae-”

“Jaehyun.” Taeyong said firmly, but his eyes filled with tears once again. “I can’t… I can’t do this right now.” 

“I know you are blaming yourself for this but you shouldn’t-”

“No, you  _ don’t _ . You don’t know anything about me, about us. So don’t come and tell me how I should or shouldn’t feel.” tears slipped down his cheeks, but he furiously wiped them off. “I’m Taeil’s dad.  _ I’m his dad _ …” he repeated, as if trying to convince himself. “And I was supposed to be with him, not…”

_ Not with you. _

Jaehyun nodded. It hurt. It hurt  _ a lot _ , but he turned around and left. 

Jaehyun wasn’t going to stay where he clearly wasn’t wanted.

 

* * *

 

[lets be friends on twitter](https://twitter.com/XlUMINION)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot for reading, I promise things will get better! Leave me a comment if you enjoyed this :D  
> See you soon!


	3. trust is a hard thing to learn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taeyong thinks about his actions. He needs to apologize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for this chapter: Mentions of past physical and sexual abuse, very brief, nothing explicit.

The ride back home was painfully silent. 

Taeyong clinged to his son in the back seat, caressing his sleeping face, kissing softly his forehead that was thankfully not burning anymore. He looked like an angel, Taeyong’s little miracle. To think something more could’ve had happened to him… it made Taeyong’s chest constrict in itself. He tried not to think about that, it hadn’t happened, so there was no point in torturing himself.

Taeyong was only able to breathe properly when he finally placed his baby on the bed, smiling when Taeil sighed in his sleep, exhausted. After a final kiss, he went to the living room to dismiss his friends, but instead of finding them there, only Ten was standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room, giving him an apologetic gaze. 

“Where’s Doyoung?”

The young father found Doyoung in his bedroom, staring with a blank expression at Taeyong’s unmade bed. The sheets were tangled in themselves, clothes still thrown carelessly all over the room and the strong smell of manly perfume that didn’t belong to Taeyong invaded the place. It was quite obvious what had happened in that bed only a few hours before.

“Tae… what happened to you?” 

Taeyong looked at the floor. Ashamed. “I… I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise.” 

“What? No, I don’t want to hear that. I want you to explain to me  _ what happened to you _ . We tell each other everything, you are like my brother, Taeyong. What happened? Don’t you trust me anymore?”

“I do, of course I do. You are… after Taeil, you’re the most important person in my life, Doyoungie.” he desperately said. “It’s just…” 

“Who was he? Jaehyun. Who is him? How long have you been dating? Even Taeil knew him but not me. Am I that scary, that you don’t even want to introduce your boyfriends to me?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” 

“But Taeil knew him. And I know you wouldn’t introduce a one night stand to him.”

Taeyong remained silent, he really didn’t know what to do or say. Doyoung’s shoulders dropped and he broke down. 

“Say something!” he cried, tears spilling from his round, dark eyes. He covered his mouth, shoulders shaking. “I’m just trying to understand who would be so important for you to disappear for hours, but not important enough to introduce him to us! I was  _ so scared _ , Tae… and now you aren’t talking to me and I…”

Ten came into the room, walking past Taeyong and going straight to Doyoung. Taeyong saw the way Ten grabbed his boyfriend’s face between his hands, how he brushed away his tears with his thumbs and the way he whispered sweet nothing against his lips. 

“Let’s go home, bunny.” Taeyong heard him say, and Doyoung nodded. Ten interlocked his fingers with Doyoung’s and dragged him out of the room, but first he hugged Taeyong. “Take care, Tae. I’ll call you in the morning to check on Taeil, yeah?”

Taeyong nodded numbly. Doyoung wasn’t looking at him, he was still crying silently. Once Doyoung started to cry it took him a long while to stop. 

Taeyong stood there, listening to the silence after the front door was shut close. He pictured Doyoung and Ten holding hands on their way back home, Ten driving slowly while squeezing his lover’s hand in the passenger seat, still silently crying. He pictured them falling to bed, kissing slowly, cuddling, whispering sweet words and promises to comfort each other. He pictured them waking up together, having breakfast, smiling because it was a new day and the night always seemed darker before sunrise. 

And then he saw himself. Still standing alone in the middle of his room. His unmade bed smelling of Jaehyun mocking him, staring at him, inviting him to spend a sleepless night filled with worries and loneliness, surrounded by what could have been. 

_ I don’t think you should spend the night alone  _ Jaehyun had said, with his honest eyes and his warm hands. And Taeyong had pushed him away.

Taeyong grabbed a pillow and a sleeping bag from his closet and went to his son’s bedroom. He wouldn’t fit in his tiny bed, neither he wanted Taeil’s fever to come back, so he just laid down on his racetrack carpet and begged for unconsciousness to take him.

 

***

 

When Taeyong woke up the next morning, Taeil was wide awake but still lying on his bed staring at his father sleeping on the floor next to him. He was singing softly, and he smiled sweetly when Taeyong opened his eyes. 

“Appa.” he said, opening his arms, waiting for a hug. 

Taeyong felt the most fulfilling and warm feeling in his chest, seeing his boy safe and sound on his bed. “My baby!” 

He laid down next to him on his race-car bed, kissing his cheeks and touching his forehead in case he had a fever. Thankfully he didn’t and his mood was better, giggling like the happy little boy he usually was in the mornings. Taeil sat on Taeyong’s stomach and began bouncing away. “Appa! Taeil-ie wanna go to park!”

“Ouch, ouch...  Sorry baby, you need to rest. Remember what the doctor said last night? You need to stay in bed for three days.”

“Three days?”

“Yeup.”

Taeil then lifted three chubby fingers. “This much?” 

“Yes, that much.” 

“Taeil-ie no want to! Three is too much!” 

Taeyong laughed, standing up with his boy in his arms. “Well, if you are good and you take your medicine it can only be two days.” 

“Two days?”

“Yes, are you hungry?” but at this, Taeil shook his head. “Baby, you need to eat since you threw up and now your tummy is empty. I’ll cook something very delicious and healthy for you, okay?”

Taeyong sat Taeil on his high chair and got to work. “Appa, where unca Ten?”

“He’s in his house.” he replied, opening the fridge. The doctor had told him Taeil needed to eat vegetables and avoid sugar, salt and raw food. He had it covered. 

“Where unca Dodo?” 

“In his house, too.” Taeyong smiled at Taeil’s curious eyes. His innocence melted Taeyong’s heart everytime. “Maybe he’ll come today to check up on you.” Taeyong knew that even if they had an argument the night before and even if Doyoung was still mad at him, he wouldn’t stop loving and taking care of Taeil. 

“Appa, where unca Jae-un?”

“Uh…” Taeyong froze, but he recovered fast before Taeil noticed anything. “He’s… he’s home, too.”

“Unca Jae-un come here today?”

“I don’t think so, baby.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s busy.”

“Why?”

Taeyong groaned internally. Taeil could be so insistent sometimes. “Because he’s a grown up, and grown ups have things to do, okay? Do you want him to come?”

Taeil nodded. 

“Maybe some other day, baby.”

 

***

 

Just as expected, Doyoung texted Taeyong saying he was on his way. 

Taeil was back in bed after eating his healthy breakfast reluctantly, but thankfully Taeyong was able to shove more than a few tablespoons of the pudding into Taeil’s mouth. Now he was happily playing with his dinosaur figurines, but it wouldn’t be long until he got bored of his old toys and wanted to run around the house. 

When Doyoung arrived, he was alone.

“Hi.” he said, smiling awkwardly. 

Taeyong opened the door wide for him to come in, both of them avoiding each other’s gaze. “Hi… uh, where’s Ten?”

“He had a rehearsal he couldn’t miss. How’s Taeil?”

“He’s doing good. He had breakfast and now he’s lying down.”

Doyoung nodded. “That’s good… I uh, I brought him new coloring books, crayons and this Power Ranger figures I found. I thought he might get bored lying down all day so… I don’t know... new toys are always so much fun, right?”

_ I’m sorry _ , Doyoung was saying,  _ I’m sorry for overreacting last night and for yelling at you. _

“Thank you.” Taeyong replied. “Really, thank you, Taeil will love this.”

_ I’m sorry, too.  _

“Uh… is he in his room?” Doyoung asked, pointing at the hallway.

“Yeah, come. He’s been waiting for you.”

Taeil was delighted when he saw his uncle Doyoung enter his room. Taeyong observed them lying against the door’s frame, a fond smile on his face. There weren’t words to describe how grateful he was of Doyoung. They knew each other since they were three years old and they knew everything about the other. Every secret, every hidden thought. He understood why Doyoung was so angry the night before. It wasn’t about Jaehyun, not at all. It was about them and about how lonely and adrift he felt while taking care of a sick little boy who wasn’t his.

Doyoung played with Taeil all morning, long enough for Taeyong to clean the house and cook their lunch. He decided on something easy and fast: pasta for them and sauteed vegetables with chicken for Taeil. Taeyong really owed Pinterest for all those healthy recipes.

Once Taeil had his stomach full it was just a matter of time and a few slow songs for him to go to sleep. Doyoung had a beautiful, soft and soothing voice, and Taeil loved it the most when his unca Dodo sang for him. When the little boy was finally napping soundly, Doyoung and Taeyong found themselves alone. 

The air was still a little tense between them, and Taeyong knew he would have to explain everything to his best friend sooner or later.

“Come.” Doyoung said, when he appeared again in the living room. He walked them to Taeyong’s bedroom and they laid down, on their sides, looking at each other. Doyung didn’t say anything, he just waited for Taeyong to speak.

Taeyong took a deep breath. 

“Jaehyun is the guy that kicked me out of his house the morning after… six months ago.”

Doyoung’s eyes widened. He wasn’t expecting this.

“We ran into each other again and… he explained he did it because he thought I had a lover. He heard me speaking on the phone with Taeil. And well... we have been dating ever since.” Taeyong wasn’t looking at Doyoung anymore, he didn’t want to know his reaction yet. “He’s amazing. He’s sweet and caring and I can tell he cares about Taeil a lot.”

“Why didn’t you tell us anything?”

“Because I didn’t want your pity if things didn’t work out.” Taeyong sighed. “I don’t want to mix things and when we break up it’s going to be-”

“ _ When _ you break up?”

“Come on, Youngie. Yeah, we’re having fun now but we both know he’s not sticking around.” Taeyong smiled sadly. “I have a kid, I work two jobs… I don’t even have a high school degree.” 

“What does any of that have to do with anything?”

“He wouldn’t want to stay with someone like me.” Taeyong said softly. It almost broke Doyoung’s heart hearing his friend think so little of himself. “He went to college, he’s so smart and handsome.” 

“Yeongie, you are talking nonsense.” Doyoung grabbed Taeyong’s hand between his. “Has he done something for you to think that? Because at the hospital he looked…”

“He looked what?”

“Totally in love with you.” Doyoung said with honesty. Taeyong’s eyes widened. “Really, he held you and comforted you... It was sweet, actually. So imagine our confusion when we saw you so vulnerable with someone we didn’t know! That’s so unlike you, Yeongie… but it’s not a bad thing! It’s good! That you’re finally opening up to someone else.”

“I… I don’t know, Doyoungie. I don’t even know how it happened, there’s just…  _ something,  _ I don’t even know how to explain. I’m so dumb.” Taeyong smiled to himself, but then he shook his head and furrowed his eyebrows. “Still… there’s a big possibility that this won’t work and I… I don’t want Taeil to get too attached, I don’t want him to get hurt.” 

By this point, everything that came out of Taeyong’s mouth were just excuses. Doyoung rolled his eyes. “Taeil is a kid and kids are the most adaptable creatures ever, you shouldn’t worry too much about him.” 

Taeyong stayed silent. Doyoung could sense how sad he was, scared of the unknown.

“Taeyongie? You really like him, do you?”

Taeyong hesitated. “I… That doesn’t matter anymore. I shoved him away, he probably doesn’t even want to see me again.” 

“Tae… I know it’s your life and if you don’t want to see him anymore that’s fine. But I can tell you really care about him. I saw you guys last night… He really calmed you down, it was… amazing. And if he’s not an asshole, then he wouldn’t hold something you said under so much stress against you.” Doyoung squeezed Taeyong’s hands. “You deserve to be happy, too.”

Taeyong smiled weakly, still deep in thought.

“Ah, come here. I want to cuddle you now!” Doyoung moved closer to Taeyong and urged him to turn around so Doyoung could be the big spoon. He hugged him tight and kissed his cheek loudly. “Mmmm, I missed this.” 

Taeyong smiled, getting comfortable between his friend’s arms, but his mind drifted quickly to Jaehyun once again.

“Doyoungie…” he said, almost a whisper. “I think… I think I’m in love with him.”

He felt Doyoung tightening his arms around his waist. “And isn’t it the most scaring but exciting feeling ever?”

 

***

 

Doyoung left later that day, not without kissing Taeil and Taeyong’s cheeks first. Taeyong felt like a weight had lifted off his chest now that things were good with Doyoung again. Taeil was feeling better too, he ate his dinner and he played with his new toys, and even thought when the night fell he got a little tired and his temperature went up a few degrees, it was nothing to worry about. 

Taeyong stared at his phone, thinking if he should text Jaehyun to come. 

He hesitated. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared about Jaehyun’s answer. What if he said no? What if he was gone forever?

Taeyong decided to put Taeil to bed before taking any decisions. Now, Taeil was a very smart and obedient little boy, but their night routine was always a hassle for Taeyong. For starters, he always hated brushing his teeth. Taeyong had to hold his head so he could brush properly every spot. 

They skipped bath this time since Taeil was still sick and he didn’t want to take any chances, so that was a relief because for some reason Taeil loved to run away butt naked around the house before putting on his pajamas. Somehow, he still managed to do so this time but at least Taeyong caught him fast. 

And then, when Taeil was finally under the bed covers, he wanted a story. 

“Which story do you want to listen, baby?” Taeyong asked, sitting on the race car bed. 

“The three piggies, please appa.”

They had many stories, beautiful books Taeyong had collected during the years, waiting for Taeil to be old enough to understand them. Most of them had gorgeous illustrations that Taeil traced with his chubby fingers and wide eyes. For some reason, Taeil really enjoyed The Three Little Pigs, especially when Taeyong did their voices and when the wolf blew their houses away. 

“Wolf so silly!” he laughed when the wolf burnt his butt in the chimney at the end. “Another one, appa please!” 

Taeyong sighed. He really couldn’t deny his baby another story. This time, they picked another one of Taeil’s favorites: The Princess and the Faithful Knight. A story about love, betrayal and patience. For this story, Taeil didn’t giggle. He listened to his father’s every word, concentrating on the details and the drawings. Taeyong’s favorite part was when the princess wakes up after her long sleep and the knight is waiting for her, kneeling beside her bed. At this part, Taeil always smiled wide and he looked up at his appa with so much joy in his little face. 

“The princess asked her dad to let the knight join her on the court, not as a knight, but as her husband. The king declared their wedding the next day and they lived happily ever after. The end.” 

Taeil clapped, hugging Mr. Bunny and snuggling under his covers. 

“Are you warm, baby? Do you need anything else?” Taeyong asked, tucking Taeil one last time.

Taeil shook his head, smiling softly at his dad. “Appa?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Princess and knight… are boy-fends?”

Taeyong laughed. “They are boyfriend and girlfriend and then they are husband and wife.”

“But Unca Ten and unca Dodo boy-fends, right?”

"Yes, they are. Because they are both boys. Why do you ask?”

“What a boy-fend?”

Taeyong smiled. “A boyfriend or a girlfriend is someone you like a lot and that likes you back. It’s someone you can kiss and hug and go on dates, hold their hand. That kind of thing.”

Taeil nodded. He stayed quiet for a very long time, thinking. “Appa?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Unca Jae-un is appa boy-fend?” 

Taeyong froze. He didn’t see this coming. “No, we are just friends.” 

“Why?”

“Because…” he really didn't’ know how to explain now. Taeil had seen him and Jaehyun do all those things he just said boyfriends did. “Because we haven’t really talked about it. Being with someone is an agreement, you have to talk first so you’re sure it’s what both of you want.”

Taeil seemed unsatisfied by the answer. 

“What is it, baby?” Taeyong asked. Taeil was deep in thought. “Taeil… would you like uncle Jaehyunie to be appa’s boyfriend?”

At this, Taeil expression changed and he nodded vigorously. It seemed like Taeyong had said exactly what Taeil wanted to express but couldn’t due to his limited vocabulary. He smiled wide and hugged Mr. Bunny tightly. “Unca Jae-un is nice.”

“Oh, really? Do you really like him?” he asked and Taeil nodded again. “More than appa?”

Taeil shook his head this time. “Taeil-ie like appa the best! And then… unca Dodo… and then… unca Ten. And then unca Jae-un.”

“I see you have your priorities in order, then.” Taeyong laughed and Taeil did too. “I like Taeil the best, too. And then Taeil and then Taeil and then… guess who?”

Taeil pointed at his bunny plushie. “Mr. Bunny!”

“Yes, Mr. Bunny I like you too.” Taeyong kissed the plushie’s head. “Now it’s time to sleep, okay? Good night, my love.”

Taeil yawned, his eyes closing slowly. “G’night, appa.”

  
  
  


Taeyong shutted Taeil’s door softly and sighed deeply. He  _ really  _ needed to make things right with Jaehyun and for that, he was the one that had to call him first. He had asked him to leave that night at the hospital even though Jaehyun explicitly asked him not to push him away. Taeyong had hurt him on purpose, after everything Jaehyun did for him, and he needed to apologize. 

And now, hearing his son speak so fondly of Jaehyun, asking where he was and smiling warmly when Taeyong offered the idea of them being boyfriends even if Taeil wasn’t really sure what it was and his only reference was Ten and Doyoung’s relationship, one of the most healthy and beautiful relationships Taeyong had ever known… Yeah, he needed to do something fast. 

So he grabbed his phone and texted him.

 

_ 21:32 hi jaehyun… i really need to talk to you please _

_ 21:33 can you come over? _

 

And then, after a while.

 

_ 21:36 I want to apologize and explain abt yesterday _

 

And then:

 

_ 21:38 I miss you  _

_ 21:38  a lot  _

 

It took almost half an hour for Jaehyun to reply. 

 

_ 22:10  I’ll be there in 15 _

 

***

 

When Jaehyun arrived, Taeyong really couldn’t help himself. He was standing at the door after exactly fifteen minutes like he promised, and he looked so unbelievably beautiful. His nose was red from the cold and little snowflakes were caught on his hair, but his eyes… his eyes was what made Taeyong’s heart skip a beat. They were so vulnerable, so open and honest, as if saying yes, you hurt me but I’m here. Once again.

Taeyong hugged him tight, burying his face into his coat, taking in his scent. It took Jaehyun a few seconds to react but at the end he hugged Taeyong back, wrapping his arms around his smaller frame. 

“Come inside, it’s so cold.” 

Taeyong had prepared hot chocolate and biscuits for the both of them and had turned on the heater because he was not going to receive Jaehyun in a cold apartment.

They sat on the couch, facing each other, steaming cups on their laps. 

“How’s Taeil?” Jaehyun asked, breaking the silence.

“He’s great,” Taeyong smiled. “He’s eating and his mood is better. He asked about you.”

Jaehyun’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah, his unca Jae-un. He said you are really nice and you’re fourth on the list of people he likes.”

“Well, I’m honored.” he smiled warmly. Taeyong could see that it wasn’t a lie, Jaehyun was actually thrilled Taeil considered him a friend and someone worth of being on his list.

“Thank you for coming so quickly, Jae. It’s very cold outside, did you drive here?” 

Jaehyun nodded. “I did. Don’t worry.” 

“Jaehyunie, I… I’m so sorry about yesterday. I’m so sorry for asking you to leave so rudely… Actually I… after you left I really, really missed you. I missed you like crazy.” 

Jaehyun put his cup away, taking Taeyong’s cup and doing the same before getting closer and holding Taeyong’s face between his warm hands. “I missed you, too.” he whispered, kissing Taeyong slowly. Taeyong sighed into the kiss, relieved. He never wanted Jaehyun to stay away, again. 

“Jae… I need to explain-” 

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Tae…”

“But I want to.” Taeyong pushed Jaehyun slightly, urging him to sit back. “Yesterday I said you didn’t know anything about us, and I’m really ashamed about that… how could I say that, when I have never told you anything? But now… I want to make this work. Us, I mean. If… if you want to, too?”

Jaehyun’s smile was blinding. “There’s nothing in the world I want more than that.” 

“Really?” Taeyong asked, wide eyed. 

“Really. I want us to build something, to really… commit. I’ve wanted that since we started dating, to be honest.” Jaehyun smiled. “I want to take care of you and Taeil, and I want… for you to take care of me, too.”

They kissed again, as if sealing their deal. Taeyong was on the clouds. Jaehyun wanted to try, he wanted to be with him… Taeyong didn’t know having your feelings reciprocated felt  _ this good. _

Jaehyun wasn’t stopping, leaving kisses all over Taeyong’s neck and jawline and Taeyong could feel himself getting hard. Seemed like there wouldn’t be any talking soon.

“Jae… let’s go to the bedroom…” Taeyong moaned. Jaehyun lifted him up and made their way to Taeyong’s bed without even stopping the kissing. They had spend only a night apart and they were already so hungry for the other. 

They got rid of their clothes easily, praising each other’s bodies while doing so. Unlike other times, this time their touches felt like a new start of something beautiful and new. 

“I want you to take me this time…” Jaehyun whispered against Taeyong’s lips, rubbing their erections together. “Please, Tae… I need you.”

Taeyong understood. Jaehyun needed to feel appreciated, he needed to be taken care of, too. Taeyong nodded fast, they had never done it this way before, with Taeyong topping but he wouldn’t deny Jaehyun request. Besides, this added to the feeling of discovery and initiation they both felt. 

So Taeyong took Jaehyun carefully, being very meticulous with the preparations, making sure his partner was comfortable all the time. Jaehyun’s moans were music to Taeyong’s ears, especially when they came out after Taeyong tried a different move on him. It was slow and romantic and everything both of them needed that night to be, and when Jaehyun was on the verge of coming undone, he said it. 

_ I love you. _

Taeyong ate those three words with a hungry kiss, whispering it back. 

_ I love you, too. _

  
  


After coming down from their highs and cleaning each other up, the night found the couple talking. They talked for hours, sharing their thoughts and feelings, telling each other tales from their youth and childhood. Jaehyun spoke to Taeyong about his college friends, how most of them lived in another country and had successful careers. He told him how it feels to find yourself alone at twenty-seven, when all the people your age have their own families or are in the process of building one. Jaehyun told him about his fears and aspirations, about growing up as a lonely child raised by his grandparents. 

Taeyong listened quietly, smiling when Jaehyun smiled, crying when Jaehyun cried. Kissing him back when Jaehyun asked for one. 

And then, it was Taeyong’s turn. He told him about his childhood, how he had grow up in a bad neighborhood, dangerous, sunken in drugs and poverty. He told him he grew up with his mom and his sister but he hadn’t seen them in three years. Since the day Taeil was born. 

“Tell me about it. About Taeil.” Jaehyun said, and to anyone it would’ve sounded like an order, but to Taeyong it was a request. Jaehyun would never force him to do or say anything he didn’t want to and he was grateful for that. 

This time, Taeyong told him everything. 

“I was seventeen, when I got Taeil. Minjee, Taeil’s mom, she was only fifteen. We were best friends since I can remember, along with Doyoung. We were the three musketeers.” Taeyong smiled fondly at the memory. “We told each other everything, we took care of each other and tried to make each other happy despite our messy families and backgrounds.” 

Taeyong took awhile to continue, deep in thought. “Doyoung is a year older than me, so when it happened he had already graduated high school. He was always the smart one, we used to tell him he had to go to college so we could live off him.” he laughed. “And he did, he won a scholarship and left that godforsaken place.” Taeyong took a deep breath. 

“We knew… we knew what was happening inside Minjee’s house. We knew her stepdad was an abusive shit with her mom and with her, but she didn’t want us to do anything. Her mom was crazy, really… she defended her husband even when Minjee arrived at school with a black eye. It was sick…” 

Jaehyun felt his heart going faster. He never imagined Taeyong, Doyoung and their dear friend had gone through something like that. “She was so positive, all the time. Taeil is so much like her in that sense… We tried to help her, we tried to call the police but no one ever did anything. And then, it happened.” 

Taeyong’s eyes filled with tears, but he kept going. “I remember that day as if it was yesterday. I remember every detail, every word she said… _ I’m pregnant _ . I didn’t even need to ask anything else, as soon as she said it with so much despair and disgust, I  _ knew _ . She told us everything but she never said she was being… abused in that way. She told me she didn’t want to have an abortion but that she was so scared of bringing a child to her world, to her house. She was terrified that monster could do something to her baby. So we told everyone that the baby was mine. Even Doyoung.” 

Jaehyun gasped. “Tae…” 

“My Minjee,” Taeyong’s tears were falling freely now. “She was so young…”

Jaehyun squeezed Taeyong’s hands, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. 

“I stayed with her the entire pregnancy. Everybody looked at me like I was a pervert since she was only fifteen. Well, half the school at least. The other half looked at me like I was such an alpha, getting my friend pregnant.” Taeyong scoffed. “At the end… there were complications during childbirth. An entire life of abuse and malnutrition will do that to you and she… She passed away an hour later Taeil was born.”  

“I’m so sorry.” Jaehyun whispered. 

“After that, everything was a chaos. Her family didn’t even want to see Taeil, they actually moved to another city after Minjee passed. And my mom… she wanted me to leave Taeil at an orphanage, I think she always knew Taeil wasn’t mine. She said that if I wanted to keep him, it wouldn’t be under her roof.” Taeyong then lifted his teary eyes and looked at Jaehyun firmly. “But how could I leave him? You should’ve seen him when he was a newborn. He was crying like crazy at the hospital, just a tiny little thing, so fragile and thin. But then I picked him up and he calmed down instantly and he opened his big brown eyes and I…” Taeyong’s eyes were full of love, of admiration, as if he was seeing his newborn in front of him at that very same moment.

“I fell in love.” Taeyong smiled. “I took him home, stayed a night there, packed my things and left the next day. I had no money, no experience with babies but I didn’t care. I felt like… Like this was  _ it _ , you know? I was  _ meant  _ to take care of Taeil as if my life depended on it. We lived with Doyoung for a few months in his small one-bedroom apartment. We looked like inexperienced gay parents, it was like a sitcom really.” 

Jaehyun smiled, trying to picture a college student, a young seventeen-year-old dad and a few-months-old baby in a small apartment. 

“When I was able to get back on my feet I rented this place and we’ve had a peaceful life ever since. Or at least we try to.” he smiled again. “Taeil might be the result of something bad, something…  _ terrible _ . But I want his life to be nothing but happiness. I love him so much, Jae, you have no idea. That’s why it’s so hard for me to trust someone into my life. Even when Ten became a part of the picture it was hard for me to trust him with Taeil, and then you showed up and I… I fell so hard and so fast that I panicked. It was- well, it still is so scary.”

Jaehyun felt an urge then to take Taeyong into his arms and protect him from everything bad in the world. He wanted to give him everything and make him happy and he didn’t want to see a single tear falling from those beautiful eyes anymore, unless they were tears of happiness. 

“Taeyong.” he breathed, getting closer to the younger, interlocking their fingers with one hand and wiping his tears with the other. “ _ Thank you  _ for trusting me, thank you for letting me into your life and for telling me this…You are the most amazing, brave, hardworking, beautiful, funny and smart person I’ve ever met.  I… I respect you so much, Taeyong… you’re so young and you have gone through so much, I just… god, I’m so in love with you, Taeyong and so, so happy that you are into my life now... you guys brought so much happiness into my life and I can’t even explain how full it makes me feel to pick you both up from the restaurant or to play with Taeilie and hearing him call me ‘unca Jae-un’. And then putting him down to sleep and having you all to myself, I just…” 

Taeyong closed the distance between them and kissed Jaehyun long and hard. Jaehyun moaned, wrapping his arms around Taeyong’s waist to manhandle him on top of him. “Jae… I… I’m a little slow and sometimes I have bad days but I… I really want this to work because I’m- I’m in love with you, too.”

Jaehyun kissed him again. He couldn’t believe how cute and sweet and beautiful Taeyong was, he couldn’t believe he had found someone as perfect as him. “We’ll make this work, Tae. I can’t imagine a day without you, without Taeilie, too… I love you both and I want to be a part of your family if… if you let me.” 

Taeyong nodded, fresh new tears in their eyes. They laughed and kissed and rolled around in bed out of pure joy. 

 

When the sunrise came, the couple had fallen asleep just a few minutes before, exhausted and in bliss. Taeyong’s face was buried into Jaehyun’s chest, using his arm as his pillow and his body heat as his personal warmer. Jaehyun was also enjoying the warm while having a beautiful dream featuring Taeyong on a beach, smiling at him while Taeil played in the sand. 

“APPA!” Taeil yelled, jumping on top of the sleeping pair and waking them up from their peaceful sleep. It seemed like he was completely recovered, jumping and bouncing on the bed. “Unca Jae-un!”

“Morning, little buddy.” Jaehyun smiled, still half-asleep. 

“Why unca Jae-un in appa bed? Unca Jae-un so silly!” Taeil burst out laughing. Taeyong and Jaehyun exchanged a glance, and they couldn’t help but laugh as well. Taeil was irresistible.

“Come here, you little punk!” Taeyong said, grabbing Taeil and pushing him down between them so they could tickle him. “This is for waking us up so early!”

Taeil was crying out of laughter, kicking his legs and arms around. Jaehyun, too, was laughing hard, enjoying the domestic moment between the three of them. When Taeil managed to get away he ran away to the living room, yelling for them to catch him. 

“Good morning.” Jaehyun smiled when they were alone again. Taeyong kissed him, morning breath be damned.

“Morning.” Taeyong sighed deeply, they barely slept a few minutes. “I’m so tired.”

“I’ll make us breakfast, is that okay?”

“Of course, I’ll help you.” they dressed warmly and headed to the kitchen. Taeil had turned on the television on his own and was currently watching Pororo, singing softly to the songs. Jaehyun smiled at the scene and Taeyong smiled at Jaehyun. “Hey, Jae… you’re staying today, right? I mean… will you spend the day with us or…?”

“I’ll stay if you’ll have me.” Jaehyun replied, hugging Taeyong’s waist.

“Stay forever, then.” Taeyong replied, kissing his lips. 

Taeil gasped, crying offended. “Unca Jae-un! No! Appa is Taeil-ie’s!”

Oh,  _ that  _ was going to be a problem.

* * *

 

[yell at me on twitter](https://twitter.com/XlUMINION)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I hope you enjoyed all that FLUFF to make up for the angsty ending last chapter!  
> As you can see, only one chapter left! And I might add another part to this story ft. a grown up Taeil and a very tall boy interested in him!   
> Once again, thank you so much for following this story and loving its characters, for leaving me comments, for following me on Twitter... you guys are the BEST!   
> See you soon!


	4. learning, growing, loving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything falls into place.

 

Taeil’s birthday was a lovely and discreet celebration. Taeyong decorated the living room with balloons and Cars 3 decorations and he filled the table with delicious pastries that he and Jaehyun baked together. Doyoung and Ten were obviously invited, and even a couple of Taeil’s friends from kindergarden went to play with him for a while. Adorable twin four year olds: a little boy named Jungwoo and his twin sister Soojin.  

Taeil had the time of his life playing with his new toys and his friends, eating to his heart’s content and then having fun at the park on that lovely summer day. 

For Taeyong, Taeil’s birthday was always a bitter-sweet date. On one hand, his baby boy was a year older, healthy and happy, growing a little taller every day. On the other hand, it was the anniversary of Minjee’s death and he couldn’t help but feel a little down. As always, Doyoung was right next to him with his tender smiles and sad eyes, going through the same as him which was always a comfort, and Jaehyun was there on his other side, through good and bad. 

Jaehyun had practically moved in with them since a while ago, falling naturally and perfectly into their routine and lifestyle, as if he always belonged there. This was not only a huge step for them as boyfriends, it also gave Taeyong the financial security to quit his job at the restaurant and finally dedicate his time to take care of Taeil properly and study. He had finally gotten his high school diploma, and it hung proudly on a pretty frame in their living room. 

The day after Taeil’s birthday, as it was tradition, Taeyong, Jaehyun, Doyoung, Ten and little Taeil went to the cemetery to visit Minjee. Doyoung and Taeyong had decided since Taeil was born that his birthday should be his very special day only about him, and that Minjee wouldn’t mind if they went to visit her a day after if it meant for her baby to have an amazing day filled with happiness and games. 

Taeil really liked going to see his mom. It wasn’t sad for him at all since he never met her, and for a little kid, everything was a game. He really enjoyed picking the flowers, mixing different colors and types that he thought his mommy would like. He liked to look at the pretty statues the older graves had and he was always mesmerized by the heavy decorated ones, with flowers and pictures and colorful things. Walking hand in hand with his uncle Jaehyun and his appa, Taeil sang happily on the way to his mother’s grave. 

“Taeil, leave the flowers here. Like that, yes…” Taeyong showed him how to place the flowers in a vase with water, while Doyoung left his own flowers next to theirs. “Do you want to talk to her, Taeilie?”

Taeil nodded, squatting down. “Mommy, Taeil-ie is this many years now!” he said lifting four fingers. “Unca Dodo and unca Ten give me a race track this big! And unca Jae-un give Taeil-ie lots and lots of Legos! And appa cook Taeil-ie a cake super duper yummy! But appa say mommy don’t like chocolate so Taeil-ie leave the cake at home.” 

Taeyong smiled, squatting down next to his son. Doyoung was looking silently from behind, with his cheek resting on the top of Ten’s head. “Taeil, do you want to introduce uncle Jaehyun to mommy?”

“Ah, yes!” Taeil stood up and went to where Jaehyun was standing, pulling him from the sleeve and urging him to sit down. “Mommy, this unca Jae-un. He live with appa and Taeil-ie!” 

“Hi, Taeil’s mommy.” Jaehyun smiled sweetly. “I’m Jaehyun. I, uh… I’ll take care of them for you, Minjee. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

Taeyong and Jaehyun exchanged a smile. 

“Doyoungie, are you okay?” Taeyong asked then, looking back. Doyoung’s eyes were shiny but he wasn’t crying. 

“Yeah… I just-” Doyoung shook his head, swallowing so his voice wouldn’t crack. Ten squeezed his hand. “I miss you, Minjee.” 

They spent the rest of the afternoon there, the four of them sharing stories and laughing at old memories while Taeil ran around and played with other kids visiting their loved ones. It was a lovely day, filled with laughs and love and the everlasting emptiness of loss.

 

***

 

“Babe, I’m going to the store. Can you wake Taeil up and give him breakfast?” 

Jaehyun opened his sleepy eyes, covering his body immediately with a blanket to block the light. “But it’s sunday… come back to bed~” 

“Well, I’m up already and I don’t want to waste my morning lazing around in bed.” Taeyong said, already leaving the room. “There’s one piece left of Taeil’s birthday cake in the fridge, feed him that with a glass of milk. Okay?”

“Okay, honey…” Jaehyun sighed, already falling asleep again. 

Not even fifteen minutes later, a sleepy four year old crawled into his bed, lying on top of him and resting over his chest. They slept like that for twenty or so minutes more, until Taeil’s tummy began to growl. 

“Taeillie?”

“Mmm?”

“Do you want chocolate cake for breakfast?”

“YES!”

 

Jaehyun looked at the clock and then at the little boy shoving cake into his face like there was no tomorrow. Taeyong was probably still at the store, since he liked to read the nutritional value of every single thing he purchased, so he had easily half an hour alone with Taeil until he came back home. 

He ran to the bedroom and when he came back to the kitchen, Taeil was done with his breakfast, half his face covered in chocolate. Jaehyun helped him clean up, washing his hands and face in the sink and then drying him up carefully with some paper towels. Then, they went to Taeil’s bedroom to play with his new toys. 

The four year old was quietly appreciating his shiny new cars when Jaehyun decided there wouldn’t be a better moment than this to ask what he wanted to ask. 

“Taeilie, come here for a second.” Jaehyun sat on the bed, making a gesture for Taeil to sit next to him. The little boy complied, sitting next to his uncle. “Do you know what’s this?”

Jaehyun took out from his pocket a small velvety box. When he opened, a gorgeous silver band was resting inside. Taeil smiled, taking it out carefully and holding it between his two hands. “A ring?”

“Yes, it’s a ring.” Jaehyun smiled, taking in Taeil’s expression. “I bought this for your appa.” 

“Why?” Taeil asked, still looking at the shiny object all over. 

“Because I want to ask him to marry me.” 

At this, Taeil’s big brown eyes widened, staring open-mouthed at Jaehyun. “Marry?”

“Yes, but first I want to ask you for your permission, because if you don’t want to, then I won’t ask him.” Jaehyun explained. Taeil stared at the ring again, thinking hard. He probably wasn’t sure what marriage meant so Jaehyun tried to explain it to him. “If we get married, we will live together and maybe we can find a bigger house to move into. I’ll get to spend everyday with you guys, and me and your appa will be husbands! Forever! Would you like that?”

Taeil smiled, finally understanding. He nodded slowly. “Yes. Like princess and knight.”

“Exactly! And… I could be… your dad. I mean, you can call me that if you want? Or you can keep calling me uncle Jaehyun, that’s okay too.”

“Dad?” Taeil asked, curious again.

“Yeah… Your appa would still be your number one dad, right? I can be like… your second dad! How does that sound?” Jaehyun felt his heart going a mile per hour. He ran his fingers through Taeil’s hair, waiting patiently for him to understand. “That would make very, very happy.” 

Instead of replying, Taeil’s lower lip turned into a strong pout as his eyes filled with tears. 

“Taeilie? Are you crying? Oh my god, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean it like that-”

Taeil shook his head as he began sobbing, standing up in the bed and throwing his arms around Jaehyun’s neck. Jaehyun wrapped his arms around Taeil’s small body, caressing his back and trying to calm him down. It seemed like his plan had failed. Taeil pushed Jaehyun away slowly, making eye contact with him. His teary eyes made Jaehyun’s heart break but then, the most amazing thing happened. Taeil took Jaehyun’s face between his hands, taking in his appearance. 

“Dad?” he asked, as if he wanted to make sure Jaehyun really meant it. The older couldn’t help himself as his eyes filled with tears too, and to avoid his voice cracking he just nodded. Taeil smiled then, hugging him again. “Dad.” he whispered. 

It felt like a baptism, an acceptance, a  _ yes  _ to Jaehyun’s proposal. Jaehyun let his tears fall freely, hugging the little boy back. How could a four year old make him this happy? He still didn’t know, it seemed like Taeil was happiness itself, condensed into his tiny body and sweet innocent eyes. Once they both calmed down and the hug was over, Jaehyun smiled and whispered in his ear. 

“Taeil, this is still a secret, okay?” Jaehyun said. “We need to figure out how to ask your appa, will you help me?” 

Taeil nodded enthusiastically, covering his mouth cheekily, as if he was guarding the biggest secret of all. 

 

***

 

It was only two weeks later that Jaehyun and Taeil had everything ready for the perfect proposal. 

They had really tried hard, looking for some ideas on Jaehyun’s ipad when Taeyong was making dinner or watching television. At the end they decided on something simple but beautiful, and Jaehyun had bought everything necessary so the proposal would be perfect. 

Taeyong arrived late one saturday because they asked him to do an extra shift at the baby clothes store. He was tired and so done dealing with babies that weren’t his, so he quickly went back to his apartment wishing for a long shower, a hot meal and some cuddles from his two favorite people in the world. 

But when he opened the door, his breath was taken away. 

The living room was filled with candles, more than a hundred, lighting up the room in a beautiful shade of orange. Taeyong gasped surprised at the beautiful picture. It seemed straight out of a movie, and right there in the middle of the room, Jaehyun and Taeil were holding hands, smiling at him. 

“What is this?” he asked, stunned. “Taeil, you are wearing a suit!”

Taeil was wearing the cutest little suit with a bow tie, matching Jaehyun’s own dark suit. They looked like a prince and a small version of one. Taeyong took his son into his arms and kissed his forehead. “Baby, what’s all this?”

Taeil covered his mouth, looking between Jaehyun and Taeyong. 

Jaehyun got down on one knee. 

 

***

  
  


“Good morning, future husband.” 

Taeyong opened his eyes slowly, smiling when he felt Jaehyun’s warm lips on his neck. “Mmmm, good morning fiance.”

“Wow, was it last night’s great sex or you look stunning this morning?” Jaehyun smiled, kissing Taeyong’s shoulders, going over the many love bites he had left the night before.

“Three orgasms will do that to you, I guess.” Taeyong laughed. “Ouch, my butt hurts.”

Jaehyun placed an apologetic kiss right in the middle of Taeyong’s chest. “Sorry, babe. I couldn’t contain myself last night. Was I too rough?”

Taeyong shook his head, closing his eyes at the feeling of his fiance leaving kisses all over his body. “No, it was perfect.” Taeyong ran a hand through Jaehyun’s hair, and when the light hit his engagement ring, Taeyong gasped softly. “Oh.”

“What is it?”

“Nothing, it’s just…” Taeyong looked between the ring and Jaehyun’s face with a dreamy smile. “This is real, right? I’m awake, right?”

“It’s real. Everything I said is real.” they kissed softly, deeply. “Is it normal that I want to fuck you again?”

“Please don’t or I’ll have to walk with crutches.” 

Jaehyun laughed, biting Taeyong’s ear. “What if I carry you around all day?” 

“Mmm, that sounds tempting.” 

As they were kissing again, the door’s handle began to move. “Appa? Appa, Taelie want to come in please, appa?”

They broke the kiss, laughing breathly. “Ah, but we have a four year old that just loves our bed very much.” 

They dressed quickly before opening the door, but instead of letting Taeil get inside and under their dirty sheets, Jaehyun took him to the kitchen to give him his milk. That morning was bliss for the couple. It seemed like they just couldn’t get their hands off each other, stealing kisses and grabbing each other’s butts whenever there was a chance. 

After lunch, they even locked themselves in the bathroom to make out like two horny teenagers hiding from their parents, just touching each other’s bodies and licking and biting every bit of exposed skin. 

“Appa! Someone knocking the door!” 

“Agh! We can’t catch a break…” Jaehyun cried, his hard-on pressed tightly against Taeyong’s thigh.

Taeyong sighed, hiding his face into Jaehyun’s neck. “Guess we’ll have to leave this for later.”

“Don’t leave me~” Jaehyun whined, trying to make Taeyong to stay in the bathroom but failing miserably. “My future husband, I need you!” 

Taeyong laughed, already leaving towards the front door. “How old are you again, Jung Jaehyun?”

“Babeee~” he whined like a child, making the other laugh out loud. 

  
  
  


Standing there at the door was Doyoung. Alone, messy hair and dark bags under his eyes. He looked paler and even thinner than usual. He was looking at the floor, almost ashamed of being there at his friends’ doorstep on a sunday afternoon. Taeyong’s smile faded away. 

“Doyoungie? Are you okay?”

Doyoung shook his head. “I’m sorry… is it a bad time? I can… I can come later if-” 

Taeyong grabbed his friend’s hand and pushed him inside. “Not at all, tell me what happened?”

“Unca Dodo!” Taeil yelled happily, running to hug his favorite uncle. 

“Hi, Taeilie!” Doyoung smiled, though Taeyong could see it didn’t reach his eyes. 

“Taeil, go play with your toys. Uncle Dodo and appa need to talk, okay?” Taeyong explained and Taeil nodded, although a little confused as to why his uncle came to his house if it wasn’t to play with him. Jaehyun came to the living room too, saying hi to Doyoung and shooting a questioning look at his boyfriend. Taeyong gave him an unknowing gaze back, as he walked hand in hand with Doyoung to the main bedroom. 

Once they were finally alone, Doyoung broke down. Taeyong stared in horror at his friend. What could make his strong friend break like this? This was completely out of the ordinary for him, the times Taeyong had seen Doyoung cry could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and it was never like this. 

“Doyoungie? You’re scaring me…” 

Doyoung’s voice made Taeyong’s heart ache. “I think… I think we broke up.” 

Taeyong gasped in shock. “Oh, Doyoungie… come here.” he hugged his friend, holding his skinny frame as he sobbed. It didn’t make any sense to Taeyong, after everything Ten and Doyoung had gone through together. To Taeyong, they were the definition of real love, trust and a healthy relationship. 

“Shh… let it out, let it all out, Youngie.” they sat on the bed while Doyoung kept crying. Taeyong drew circles on his back, waiting for him to calm down. “Tell me what happened. Is it final?”

“I don’t know.” Doyoung replied. “I don’t even… I don’t even remember everything we said. This past three days have been hell.” 

“Why didn’t you come to me earlier?” Taeyong asked. 

“I don’t know, I thought… I thought it wasn’t that bad but this morning he-” Doyoung squeezed his eyes. “He left.” 

“Tell me, Doyoungie.”

He took a deep breath. “Tennie was offered a job. He received a call a few days back telling him they had followed his work, his performances and youtube videos. And… it’s basically his dream job with this great company that choreographs for Broadway shows.” 

_ Oh _ . 

“Broadway?” 

“Yes… it’s a contract for two years. Great money, too. A visa, a place to stay. The whole deal.” 

“That’s… that’s  _ great,  _ holy crap. It’s what he always wanted.” Taeyong was impressed. He always knew how good Ten was at what he did and that he was an ambitious person, but for this amazing opportunity to just appear out of nowhere was definitely a once in a lifetime kind of thing. 

“I know right? And I’m so, so incredibly happy for him.” Doyoung’s tears fell freely down his cheeks. “We hugged and kissed and cried… god, he was  _ so happy. _ And then he said-” Doyoung swallowed. “He said,  _ you’re coming with me, right? _ And I… I froze. I realized he was going to America for  _ two years,  _ maybe more,who knows… And I…” 

Taeyong rubbed his friend’s back. “Breath, Doyoungie.”

“I told him I didn’t know. I mean, I have everything here… I have my job, I have you guys… And- and I can’t even speak english that well, my degree is useless in America and will they even give me a visa with how things are right now? I don’t even remember if I said all of this things at once or if I said more but then- then he got mad, he told me this was the kind of thing where I just needed to say yes, without thinking about the consequences.”

“And?”

“Well, then… I said some things…” Doyoung sobbed. “I said things just to hurt him and… and he said some things back and then we argued about trying long distance and he said that thing never works… and we fought a lot, and then we went to bed and we had angry sex which we  _ never have _ because we don’t like to… hurt each other like that-”

“Did he hurt you?” Taeyong asked. “Did you hurt him?”

“If his neck covered in angry hickeys and my back that still burns with how much he scratched me was us hurting each other, then yes.” Doyoung looked away. “But that was nothing, we both needed it and we wanted it… But the things we said to each other, those are the things that really hurt. The next morning was more of the same and then the next day again, and I just can’t deal with this… I don’t know what to do, Tae, I don’t want to lose him I love him so much but now he’s going to America and he’s going to fall in love with someone so much better than me because who wouldn’t fall in love with him, and it’s going to be someone prettier and much more educated than me and I’ll be alone for the rest of my life because I won’t ever be able to love again after him, there’s no one else in the world for me!” 

“Okay. Wow. Calm down, Youngie.” Taeyong hugged his sobbing friend. He had forgotten how spectacularly dramatic he could be. “Doyoungie, look at me.”

Doyoung’s eyes were red, snot and tears all over his face. He looked so… ugly. 

“What’s really stopping you from going to America with Ten?”

“I already told you-”

“No, not all that bureaucratic bullshit, no. That’s not the reason and you know it. Doyoung… I know you and I know how smart you are. You are great with languages, so you wouldn’t have problems with english at all. You could apply for a visa and they would give it immediately since you graduated with high honors from university, and even if your degree is useless you are great at _ so many things _ , you could even work at a restaurant if you wanted with how amazing you cook and all those fancy recipes you know!” Taeyong was able to bring out just the tiniest smile from Doyoung, so he asked again. “So, my dear friend… what’s stopping you?”

“I-” Doyoung hesitated. He looked away, eyes fixed on Taeyong’s carpeted floor. “I don’t know I just-”

“You can trust me.” Taeyong whispered. 

“I’m scared.” Doyoung finally said, softly, filled with so many emotions he couldn’t even comprehend. 

“It’s okay to be scared. We have all been scared at some point in our lives… but when have you ever let fear paralyze you, Doyoung?”

Doyoung shook his head, fresh new tears threatening to come out. “No, no… this is… I’m scared of-”

But he stopped himself again. Taeyong sighed. “I won’t judge.” 

“I’m scared of missing you and Taeil so much that I’ll never be happy there.” he finally said. “I’m scared of losing you and him, Taeyong…”

Taeyong’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh, Doyoungie…”

“I’m scared Taeil will forget about me, and I know I have no right to-”

“No, Doyoungie you do,  _ you do-  _ hey, look at me.” Taeyong cradled Doyoung’s face between his palms. “You helped me raise Taeil since day one, Doyoung. You are basically his dad too, he learnt to say appa at the same time he said Dodo, remember? Taeil could never forget you and I won’t forget either everything you did for us. Besides, you can come visit often, right? Plane tickets are not that expensive if you think about it… Doyoungie, don’t let us stop you, we’ll be fine. I promise.” 

“Really?” Doyoung asked, his soft voice almost a whisper.

“Really.” he replied with a smile. “Besides… look.” Taeyong extended his hand, showing Doyoung the brand new ring around his finger. “Jae proposed. Yesterday.” 

Doyoung grabbed Taeyong’s hand, staring at the ring with his mouth hanging open. “What… for real?!”

Taeyong nodded, smiling brightly. And just like that, Doyoung began sobbing again.

“Aw, Doyoung…”

“Oh my god I’m just- I’m just so happy for you…” he cried, tackling Taeyong and making them both fall into the bed. Taeyong could only laugh as he hugged his dramatic friend back. 

“There, there…” 

“I’m crying here like a loser while you just got proposed! Why didn’t you tell me!” Doyoung wiped his tears hurriedly. “How was it? Tell me everything!” 

“Ah, it was so sweet. Jaehyun and Taeil planned it together, they filled our living room with candles and they were both wearing suits. Taeil was even wearing a bow tie!” 

“Please tell me you took a picture.” 

“A picture? I took thousands!” Taeyong grabbed his phone and showed his gallery to the delight of Doyoung. 

“Oh my god, he looks so adorable!”

“Yeah, and Jaehyun was really sweet. He said really romantic things that I don’t really remember because I was crying and then I asked Taeil what should I say and he said ‘ _ say yes _ !’, it was very cute and just… perfect in every way.” 

Doyoung sighed, finally smiling instead of crying. “I’m so happy for you, ah… I can’t believe you had such good news to brighten up my day. So when’s the wedding?”

“We are not in a rush so it will probably be in a year or so. We want to save a decent amount of money first for the party and to take a small trip afterwards.” 

“That sounds lovely,” Doyoung smiled. “There’s really no one I can think of who deserves you more than Jaehyun.”

“I can say the same for you, Doyoungie.” Taeyong said going back to the topic of Ten. “You guys are made for each other, don’t ruin this. Fight for him, for the both of you.”

Doyoung nodded. “I will… I- I’ll text him. I don’t even know where he went. Ah, this is a mess.” 

“When is he leaving?” 

“Well, Tennie is leaving in two weeks to Thailand for a few days to do some paperwork, then he’ll come back to pack so… A month. He’ll get there a week before he starts the new job to settle.” Doyoung looked at his phone, thinking what to text him. “Ah, I don’t know what to say… What if he doesn’t even want me there anymore?”

“Oh, come on Doyoung. Don’t be dumb. Ten loves you as much as you love him, he will be  _ thrilled  _ when you tell him you’re going with him.” 

Doyoung stared at his phone as if it held all the answers he needed. But when he was about to start typing, his phone began to ring. 

“It’s him!” he said, throwing the phone on the bed. “What do I do?”

“Answer him!” Taeyong grabbed it, pressed the green button and shoved it next to Doyoung’s ear. 

“Hello?” Doyoung whispered. Taeyong could barely hear Ten on the other side of the phone, but by his friend’s reactions, he imagined what was he saying. “Tennie… I love you, too.” 

Aaaand he was crying again. Taeyong smiled, deciding to go play with his son to give the couple their privacy. 

He found Jaehyun sleeping on the couch while Taeil colored on his own. He sat next to him to help him, asking Taeil which color he should use for which car, since his little boy turned into a little monster when his appa ‘got the colors wrong’. Just a minutes later Doyoung came back from his room after apparently washing his face, wearing one of his million dollar smiles. 

“So?” 

“I’m gonna fix this.” he said, picking Taeil up and covering his face in kisses. 

“Unca Dodo, no!” Taeil protested, trying to get away from Doyoung’s death grip. When he was finally able to get away, Doyoung’s kisses found their next victim in Taeyong’s cheeks this time. 

“Thank you, thank you,  _ thank you _ .” he said over and over, none of the sadness from before recognizable on his features. 

It wasn’t a few minutes after Doyoung was gone that Taeyong realized his friends were actually moving to the other side of the world. Doyoung had always been there, the only constant in his life since he was three years old, and now he was leaving to find his own place in the world with the person he loved.

Taeyong too, was getting married to the man he loved, and it seemed like the picture was complete. Life was changing, for all of them, even for Taeil who grew up and learnt new things everyday. 

And Taeyong couldn’t be happier. 

Learning, growing,  _ loving _ . What was life if not those things in so many different ways and forms?

“Taeilie, will you live with me forever and ever?”

“Yes.” Taeil answered, without paying much attention to his appa.

“And will you stay as my little boy for the rest of our lives?” 

“Yes.” he replied again, still coloring.

Taeyong smiled to himself. That was, at least, a reasonable consolation.

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  


Taeyong’s heart was beating a mile per hour inside his chest. 

He stared at his reflexion in the mirror, checking his suit and his hair for the hundredth time that day. 

This was it. Finally the day that kept him awake at night was here. He never imagined it would come this soon, though, and even if he had prepared for months, the terrible feeling of dread rested heavily inside his stomach. 

His suit was impeccable. Not even the tiniest particle of dust could be found in it. Taeyong couldn’t even remember when was the last time he had dressed this good for something. 

A soft knock on the bathroom door brought him out of his thoughts. “Babe, are you ready?” 

“Just a second.” he replied. 

He couldn’t believe it was actually happening. They weren’t at the ceremony yet and he already wanted to cry. When he went out, Jaehyun was there fixing his tie while looking at himself on the closet’s mirror. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m just… a little nervous.” he tried to smile to no avail. Jaehyun kissed him on the forehead before fixing his hair as well. 

“There’s nothing to be nervous about, babe. Everything is going to be just fine.” 

“ _ Appa, dad! We’ll be late! _ ”

Jaehyun smiled. “He’s right. We’ll be late... but I need to pee. Can you guys wait for me downstairs?”

Taeyong nodded, kissing Jaehyun softly on the lips before he could escape. Taeyong’s heart was beating loudly, but it was nothing compared to when he found Taeil waiting for them in the living room.

“So? How do I look?” he asked smiling shyly. 

Taeil, now as tall as Taeyong, looked as handsome as ever wearing his high school uniform for the last time. He had grown up to be a smart and talented young man, good-looking and kind and with a beautiful voice that won him a scholarship into the music program of Seoul Institute of the Arts. 

Taeyong couldn’t be prouder. 

He walked closer to his son and hugged him tightly. “Ah, Taeilie… where did our time go?”

“Appa… are you crying already?” 

“No… not  _ yet _ at least.” Taeyong smiled, grabbing Taeil’s shoulders and giving him a big kiss on his cheek before Taeil could brush him away. 

“Ok, I’m here! Let’s go, let’s go!” Jaehyun came running down the stairs, grabbing his car keys and wallet. 

The ride to the school was spent with Jaehyun and Taeil chatting and making jokes, while Taeyong took deep breaths to try and calm his heart. His baby was graduating and he was leaving to college right after, and Taeyong was  _ not  _ ready to let him go even if Taeil was more than ready to spread his wings and start flying on his own. 

He was being ridiculous, he knew that. Taeil would be living an hour and a half away at most, but it still wouldn’t be the same as waking him up every morning or having dinner together every day after a long day at work.

“Taeil! Over here!” 

Once they reached the school, Doyoung and Ten were already there. It was a funny picture: Ten hugging Taeil who was now taller than him by a few inches, while Doyoung had to run around trying to catch their mischievous two year old twins who were discovering the independence of their chubby legs.

“Renjunie, no! Jisung come back here! Come say hi to your uncles!” 

When he was finally able to caught them, Jaehyun took Jisung into his arms while Taeyong hugged Renjun. They were absolutely  _ adorable,  _ and since Doyoung and Ten came and went from Korea to the US, Jaehyun and Taeyong really had to take advantage of the little time they had with them. After saying hello to his uncles and their babies, Taeil left with his classmates, getting lost into the crowd. Meanwhile, the four of them and the twins went to look for their seats.

“Ah, Tae… I can’t believe our Taeilie is graduating already… Seems like it was yesterday when he was just a baby and I was changing his dirty diapers.” Doyoung sighed, shoving a pacifier into Renjun’s mouth. 

“You tell me, I’ve been trying not to cry all day because I just can’t believe it.” Taeyong said, bouncing Renjun on his knees. 

“Doyoung, I think Jisungie wants to go with you.” Jaehyun handed the little boy to his dad. “Tae, can I hold Renjun now?”

Ten laughed when he saw Jaehyun’s delighted expression when Renjun extended his arms at him. “Taeyong, I think Jaehyun wants another  _ baby _ ~” he joked.

“We just finished raising one and you want another?” Taeyong laughed.

“You guys should get twins too, it’s so much fun.” Doyoung said this time, trying to stop Jisung from running away again. “Why do you have so much energy?!”

“I can see that.” Jaehyun deadpanned. 

  
  


When Taeil’s name was called, they were easily one of the loudest groups in the crowd clapping and yelling and effectively embarrassing Taeil (with gay parents and gay uncles who worked in  _ Broadway  _ of all places, Taeil was expecting it). Taeyong clapped like there was no tomorrow even if he could barely see through his tears. He felt so proud of his boy, so  _ incredibly  _ proud of everything he had achieved on his own, Taeyong felt like his chest was going to explode from love. 

When he looked to the side and found Jaehyun crying too, with a little two year old in his arms, Taeyong realized that another baby wasn’t such a crazy idea. 

Life was changing once again, but there were so many beautiful things yet to come. 

And Taeyong wouldn’t want it any other way.

 

 

The End.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you SO MUCH to everyone that read this fic!!! To the people who sent me messages on twitter and those lovely people who left me comments here: THANK YOU. I wouldn't have finished this without your beautiful words and motivation. 
> 
> If you enjoyed this fic, please don't unsubscribe because I have a few spin-offs planned. I'm not done exploring this universe yet!
> 
> I also have lots of other fics that I'm working on, so stay tunned! 
> 
> See you soon, guys! :D

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! And thanks for reading! My name is Lore and this is my first Jaeyong fic! (cheers)  
> So, this work will probably have two or three parts in total, I'm not sure yet... but get ready for more cute Taeil, a little bit of angst and lots, lots of fluffy content!  
> I hoped you enjoyed it, I hope you subscribe and I hope you leave me a comment! Yay!  
> See you soon :D


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